It’s all getting a bit tense for England after the thorough spanking we received at the hands of the South Africans. You could watch the match at home, you could watch it at your local, or why not head out there for yourself and buy a ticket from the lastminute.com ticket exchange.
3* Paris break - 3 nts leaving 29th Sept from £159*
Fly Heathrow to Paris with Air France from £93*
Stay in the 3* Best Western Eiffel Ségur, Paris from £96*
*prices are correct at the time of posting, but are subject to change.
“It’s a game, it’s a party, it’s an experiment…” that’s what the organisers of this worldwide snapathon are billing it as. But what does it all mean? On the 29th of September, you need to have your camera in a handy hip-holster and your fingers wiggling in anticipation at the hilt. You’ll have six hours to take photos of your city that creatively express one of 20 themes provided in the scavenger hunt list. The best collections will win a prize and there will be snap-happy parties in cities round the world. 
The spa boasts wonderful heat and ice facilities where you move from steam room to steam room, raising your body temperature and then finally braving the ice cave where you feel really invigorated. This is great for circulation and also helps us with the battles of cellulite – every little helps in my case! Once you have tried that, you move on to the hydrotherapy pool and this is a real treat with lots of different jets to get rid of the tension in your muscles. It’s a bit like a giant Jacuzzi, which you will just not want to get out of! 
We also had a very relaxing dry floatation, I was very curious about this as I was wondering how floatation could possibly be dry but our lovely therapist explained all. We lay down on a bed and the therapist rubbed a special salt scrub onto our skin and then wrapped us in a towel. The bed then fills up with water and you are raised up and left to float on what feels like the sea. It was like being on the water without getting wet! I was left to float for about half an hour and actually fell asleep it was so relaxing. 
The hotel is split into two parts, the old house and a newer building with further facilities. The two are connected very well and you hardly realise you are going from one to the other. You could be allocated a traditional room in the old house or a modern room in the new part of the hotel. We stayed in both rooms and I personally loved the ambience of the traditional room, I felt like a Queen! 
The spa has a heated indoor swimming pool, sauna and steam room, as well as gym with all the equipment you would need. There is also a spa pool where you can benefit from the hydro jets and the lovely bubbles. Surrounding this pool are 3 different steam rooms and finally the ice cave where you can cool down. This is great to invigorate your skin. You can also use the Rhassoul mud treatment room to exfoliate and cleanse your skin, leaving it feeling soft and silky. There are several treatment rooms available with helpful staff offering a range of different treatments, all the way from Reiki to Algae Wraps. There is also a relaxation room with a glass roof where you can have a snooze on a sun lounger or a waterbed and let the day go by. 
There are 3 restaurants to eat at, Le Bistro which has table service from a wide set menu, Pierrepont which operates a buffet and the very formal Blue Room a la carte restaurant. After dinner there is entertainment every night where different comedians, cabaret singers and live bands perform. 
One of the best things about this hotel is the lively atmosphere. As soon as you walk in from the hush of the garden square outside, you notice the general hubbub around the coffeeshop-cum-breakfast room (with smooth, fresh coffee and homemade pancakes - yum). Then there's the well-manned reception and the concierge desk which will organise all the tours, tickets and taxis you need to make the most of a London stay and, downstairs, a fully stocked cocktail bar and evening dining area which is a great place to chill out and meet other guests in the evening. The director, Steve, has a great policy when it comes to his staff - only employing people who want a career in hospitality - which means that all of this hubbub is run smoothly by enthusiastic and communicative staff. 
The hotel also acts as a showcase for the work of student artists meaning that instead of a tacky reproduction image (or, god forbid, one of those Ikea-style close-up of a dewy petal) you're likely to have an entirely original print or photograph in your room. It's not often you get this kind of creative flair in a three star hotel. But then, Umi is a special kind of a three-star. All of the rooms have en-suite bathrooms, plug-in or wireless internet access, plasma TVs with freeview and the option of a laptop-sized safe. This makes it perfect for business travel as well as tourists. 
Of course, one of the best things about a Bayswater/Notting Hill address is how close it is to the centre of town. This neighbourhood has all the convenience of Kings Cross or Paddington, but buckets more class. The museums in West Kensington are just a short bus or tube journey away. The local pubs that dot the quiet, green streets around the hotel are perfect for Sunday afternoon pints and, of course, Portobello Road is famous for its shopping and has some of the coolest bars in London (just check out Trailer Happiness if you need proof). All just a stroll away.
DUMBO Art Under the Bridge Festival, New York
London Fashion Weekend, London
Harpoon Brewery - Octoberfest Festival, Boston
Festes de La Mercè 2007, Barcelona
Popkomm Festival, Berlin
St Ives Festival, England
Technopol Techno Parade, Paris
Rugby World Cup: England vs. South Africa, Paris
Night Carnival, London
All the thrills, all the shiny new stars, all the tears... 
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