LE BISTRO DU JOUR À PARIS: According to friends in Paris, the hottest new place to eat on the Left Bank is Le Comptoir, Yves Camdeborde's bistro on the busy Carrefour de l'Odéon, off Boulevard St Germain.
Following the US trend, three-star French chefs such as Camdeborde, who was formerly with the Crillon, are opening cheaper, more casual restaurants with small but sophisticated menus. Le Comptoir (00-33-1-44270797), which opened a year ago, doesn't take reservations, so on a recent visit to Paris we took our chances for lunch - and managed to get a table after a 15-minute wait.
The place is small and cramped, and the service, from two hard-working waitresses, is brisk and brusque, but for its glorious terrines and sublime chocolate gelee alone Le Comptoir deserves its reputation. The menu features classic bistro dishes with a creative twist, informed by Camdeborde's background in rural southwestern France. An inventive chocolate and mascarpone dessert with a coffee gelee tasted like tiramisu but looked like a creme brulee and melted in the mouth. Camdeborde and his wife, Claudine, also own the adjoining Hotel Relais St Germain (www.hotel-paris-relais-saint- germain.com), a renovated 17th-century building; over the summer, double or twin rooms start at about €200 a night. Deirdre McQuillan
THE PORTABLE TRANSLATOR
Few things, perhaps, are more frustrating for tourists than having to flick frantically through a holiday phrase book before trying to utter a basic expression to a bewildered local - if the local is still there to listen. If you have a PlayStation Portable, you can try out TalkMan instead. It's an interactive electronic phrase book that claims, rather dramatically, to help you "make friends, break down barriers and promote world peace".
Hosted by a blue bird called Max, TalkMan, which costs about €50, works in English, French, German, Spanish, Italian and Japanese. You choose from sections on restaurants, hotels, sporting events and meeting people, among others, then select the phrases you want to say and let Max pronounce them.
TalkMan (www.talkmanpsp.com) claims to be able, using the microphone it comes with, to pick up and translate people's responses, although they can select answers from another list of phrases. The snag is having to hand your precious PSP to a stranger - not advisable if you're using TalkMan's emergencies section to confront a thief.
"It takes a while to get used to it, but it's a nice idea," says Mattia, an Italian who works at the Dublin restaurant Dunne & Crescenzi. "If someone doesn't know the language at all it would help a lot. If a tourist came in here with one, you would understand; it shows they're making an effort."
TalkMan has 3,000 phrases, which may sound like a lot, but in practice it's quite limited. I also tested TalkMan on Patricia, from Spain. The translation and the accent are perfect, she says. "You can tell it's a real Spanish person." When she speaks into the microphone, however, the software doesn't understand her, even though all she says is "Sí". Hmm. Technology fans might get something out of this gadget, but I'd rather wait until they fix this flaw. Eimear McKeith
FASHION WEEK GOES PUBLIC
Details of the third Dublin Fashion Week have just been announced. The event has a new venue - the Fitzwilliam Hotel, on St Stephen's Green - and will take place from Monday, August 28th, to Wednesday, August 30th. Exhibitors will include Joanne Hynes, Aideen Bodkin, Deborah Veale, Leighlee and Helen James, along with newcomer Jennifer Rothwell.
Previously, this was an industry-only event, but this year there are plans to have afternoon and evening fashion shows open to the public at CHQ, the former tobacco and wine warehouse along the quays, and Brown Thomas is already on board as a category sponsor. More details should be coming soon to its website, www.dublinfashionweek.com. Deirdre McQuillan
PUT YOUR FOOT IN IT
Forget wellies: Reef's flip-flops should be the ultimate festival footwear this season. The company's Fanning sandals (about €65), developed as a tribute to an Australian surfer, have a bottle opener embedded in the sole. Summer days don't come much lazier than that. If you're sticking to more manicured grass, Reef's Mulligan flip-flops (about €50), for golfers, have green turf-inspired soles and include rubber golf ball heel cushions and little pockets for your tees. You can get both from Great Outdoors, on Chatham Street in Dublin 2 (www.greatoutdoors.ie). Nicoline Greer
DRAWING ALL OVER DONEGAL
Earagail Arts Festival is known for its tradition of using numerous locations across Co Donegal. The idea is to make the annual event as accessible as possible for everyone in this big county, whose towns and villages are scattered across the landscape.
One of the more unusual events this year, the 18th festival, is Drawing Day. Next weekend, on the middle Sunday of the festival, six Donegal-based artists will be holding drawing classes at their favourite parts of the county, so you need your own transport.
The classes are free and open to all, with families in particular encouraged to turn up (though you can register in advance). Some locations are outdoors, with wet-weather alternatives nearby.
And they are not all limited to painting and drawing on paper either. The site-specific sculpture artist Maria Finucan will meet people at Kinnegar Beach, Rathmullen and asks participants to bring a camera, paper, pens, garden trowels, spades and containers for collecting beach objects.
The ruined church in Old Dunlewey is the meeting place for Sarah Lewtas's class, which takes place at the beautiful Poisoned Glen. Bring quality paper, board and pencils, charcoal or pastels.
The fine artist Heidi Nguyen will meet people at Dungloe Library and bring them to Marameelan beach. Bring boards, paper and pencils.
Alice Ring specialises in collaborative painting. Meet her at the foyer of Tullyarvan Mill, Buncrana. Bring ink, paint, pastels and sketchbooks.
The landscape painter Ian Gordon will meet people at Magheroarty pier. Bring large sheets of paper, board and pen, pencils or crayons.
The painter Frank Suacien will meet people at the entrance to Letterkenny Cathedral. Bring a large sketch pad, board and pencils.
And even if you aren't the most skilled with pen or brushes, and you run out of inspiration, you can always admire the scenery.
Meet at the various locations at 3pm on Sunday, July 16th. Classes finish at 5pm. More from 074-9168800. www.eaf.ie. Rosita Boland
* There'll be a bit of a racket in Temple Bar this summer. The Ark of Noise is a series of sound workshops and exhibitions that will take children to another musical galaxy. In Junkyard Symphony they will make instruments out of found objects, and in Noise Bottles they can make light- and touch-sensitive electronic instruments. From today until August 12th, the Ark, Temple Bar, Dublin 2. www.ark.ie, 01-6707788. Nicoline Greer
* It's only a few weeks old, but Balcony TV is becoming a cult. Every day, Pauline Freeman, Tom Millett and Stephen O'Regan webcast a magazine programme featuring anything from singers to belly dancers, transmitting to the world from their balcony on Dame Street in Dublin. www.balconytv.com NG