If you happen to be in Paris, consider taking a day to visit one of the most visited places in the city. Père Lachaise is known as the largest and most popular cemeteries in the world. Buried under all the crowded headstones, monuments and plaques are 70,000 people. Most are unknown, but some of the famous attract thousands of tourists each year.

The most visited grave is that of rock star Jim Morrison, who died in 1971. The modest site is usually filled with flowers and mementos from those former hippies and other admirers, now older and greyer, who come to pay homage to their idol.

Also there are France’s greatest generals, politicians and diplomats, as well as Gertrude Stein, Alice B. Toklas, Chopin, Edith Piaf, Balzac, Moliere and famed lovers Abelard and Heloise. Rebel students from street battle were executed there, as in Broadway play, “Les Miserables” Their common grave is is near the last resting place of the author, Victor Hugo.

For more information, go to www.reidsguides.com/destinations/.../paris/.../pere_lachaise....

The famed Pierre Hotel in Manhattan is an expensive place to spend the night. We were there for a recent business meeting and the basic nightly rate was $550. Happy the company paid for it, and we wouldn’t do it for the Pierre’s latest promotion.

Think Cher, Joan Rivers, Rosanne, Madonna, Mickey Rourke, Kenny Rogers, Tori Spelling, Hulk Hogan and others who’ve had their aging faces and other sagging body parts rebuilt. That’s what the Pierre is offering for those who can afford booking such uplifting services.

Clients can now check in anonymously and get plastic surgery from high-priced Manhattan surgeons, and then spend some time in private, luxurious recovery. If you have to ask what the whole package costs, you can’t afford it. Anyhow, a price quote would only make your face fall in shock. For more information, go to tajhotels.com/pierre

Recently, when we visited Dublin, one of the first sites we wanted to see was the Guinness brewery at St. James’ Gate. The original was built 350 years ago, and a lot of suds have gone over the gate since.

Guinness now conducts daily tours of the current brewery structures for a $19 fee, which includes a local guide, history audio-visuals and sampling of Guinness products. Sipping a fresh brew at the plant’s upper level Gravity Bar offers great views of surrounding Dublintown. We certainly enjoyed our tour, and recommend it for all tourists who venture to Dublin.

To request reservations for the tour, go to www.guinness-storehouse.com. When on your visit and notice some familiar faces on the tour with you, don’t be surprised. Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip dropped in for a pint just a few months ago.

Agatha Christi and Hercule Poirot would be jealous of China’s contemporary and very luxurious version of the Orient Express. Starting in Beijing, the Tangula high-speed train travels more than 2,400 miles north and to increasingly higher terrain to Lhasa in Tibet.

The Tangula consists of 12 sleeping, two dining and tail-end observation cars. Accommodations are for a total of less than 100 passengers in roomy, double-bed suites. Of course, each suite comes with a personal butler, and as the train races upward in the Tibetan mountains, personal oxygen equipment is provided for those who may need it in the rarefied three-mile-high altitude.

Basic rates range upward for a one-way trip from Beijing to Lhasa from $3,300 per person for the four-night trip. There are many extra charges, including wines, interpreters, souvenirs and legal documents. Hercule could never afford it on his detective’s salary.
For more information, check with your favorite hometown or online travel agency, or go to www.mircorp.com/tour_tangula.asp