Following news of Guardian travel writer Benji Lanyado’s planned trip to Paris recently, the day has arrived for his departure for Paris from St Pancras, London.

For those new to the story, Benji’s actions in Paris will be influenced solely by suggestions given by his 321 or so Twitter followers.

@benjilanyardo #TwiTrip Updates on Twitter

You can follow his updates here, here, here and via this blog.

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Note: You can read the latest on Benji’s Paris #TwiTrip travels here.

In an interesting Guardian article posted yesterday, travel writer Benji Lanyado asks whether the recent adoption of Twitter as the micro-blogging site of choice among the celebrity elite, tech-geeks and marketing gurus could become the solo traveller’s best friend.

Twitter - Latest Tool to Revolutionise Online Travel?

Stephen Fry has been championing the usefulness of Twitter, claiming he is always using it while on his travels. Already ranking 3rd in Google search for the term ‘Blog‘, Stephen Fry is now one of Twitter’s most followed users (85,000 followers and counting).

And so, having researched the stories having broken via Twitter before even the local media knew anything about them (Denver runway plane crash and the Hudson river emergency landing), Benji - Twitter profile benjilanyado, announced how he planned to run an experiment. At some point in the not too distant future, the Guardian travel writer will be departing for Paris. Very little pre-planning is going into his travel schedule. In fact, the writer will be relying wholly on tweeted tips from his twitter following.

Interestingly, while road-testing the system, he asked yesterday whether anyone could suggest a ‘cool/cheap hotel for Paris next week. challenge mamashelter - its story of renovation posted here back in October 2008. Hotel Particulier De Montmartre was another hotel listed on Benji’s feed, along with hotel price comparison site hotelly and Oops Budget Hotel. The Paris camp site idea would perhaps end up buried under later tweets. A real stroke of genius came only two hours of the original hotel request tweet… Brillliant Tips posted a blog entitled ‘Travel via Twitter - Looking for a Cool Hotel in Paris?‘ aiming the post squarely at the travel writer.

Paris Boutique Hotel, mamashelter

I am looking forward to establishing if Benji’s plans to tour Paris, guided solely by user’s tweets will succeed. I am putting faith into this little endeavour and believe it will provide further evidence of Twitter’s emergence as the tool to revolutionise online travel.

I will be reporting back here regularly, updating you on Benji’s progress.

It’s difficult to miss all the ads by the big two Tour Operators at the moment. Both TUI (Thomson and First Choice) and Thomas Cook  are trying to convince everyone to part with their cash - which is not that unusual for this time of year. What is interesting, however, is the focus of the ads is squarely on the fact that when booking a holiday with them, the customers’ money is completely protected by their ABTA bond (just like all Short Breaks clients). I assume that this is in response to the demise of XL and the need for unified customer protection - which the big two have already benefitted from in numerous ways, including an increase in prices and a lack of real competition. The message of the ads are also trying to deter customers from dynamically packaging breaks either themselves or using OTAs where there are grey areas as to which parts, if any, of a booking are covered.

What is even more interesting is that price isn’t mentioned at all… could this be because that’s not going to encourage anyone to book given the above. The Big Two Operators have definitely done well in bringing themselves back into line with the rest of the travel industry in terms of the use of the internet and have seen the benefit in increased sales.

It will be interesting to see if this continues or whether the smaller operators will be able to stay ahead.

Following his outburst to the press yesterday, which involved a harsh, verbal attack on his young Arsenal team-mates, William Gallas has today hinted at a shock move from the Emirates to Paris St-Germain.

Could Euro Star, Gallas, Be On His Way To Paris St-Germain?

Gallas’s role as Arsenal club captain in under threat this weekend after he revealed details of a dressing room bust-up during half-time of the 4-4 draw with fierce rivals, Tottenham Hotspur.

Le Parc Des Princes. Home To Paris St-Germain

In an article published today on Times Online, Gallas stated he is planning his exit from Arsenal to a French club - where he would see out the rest of his footballing career. In addition to PSG, who play their football at Le Parc Des Princes, a move to old club Marseilles, Lyon or Bordeaux could be on the cards. He is however, attracted to joining former Chelsea and International team-mate Claude Makelele at Paris St-Germain.

In difficult economic times we are more used to hearing about closures, but this week saw the reopening of one of Paris’s favourite nightspots, Le Palace, after over 10 years in limbo.

Le Palace Nightspot, Paris

Originally opened as a music-hall in 1923, it was transfomed into a cinema at the end of the Second World War. The rather banal history of this establishment though took an abrupt turn with the birth of disco, and when it was reinvented as a nightclub in 1978, a myth was born. Throughout the 1980s it became the Parisian equivilent of New York’s Studio 54, hosting shows by artists such as Grace Jones and the first public appearance of Prince. It was not generally considered a trendsetter though, but rather a jetsetter. The focus was not so much on the music but on the people, and it was the nightspot of choice for princes and millionaires, fashion designers and models.

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