Discount Book Cuts Costs In Paris

One thing you can say about a soft world economy: It’s coaxed travel discounts from companies both here and abroad that are rarely associated with the word “bargain.”

The latest value from Entertainment Publications is a new Paris dining directory including 25 percent off meals at a dozen Michelin-rated restaurants. The directory, which costs $48, is intended mainly for Parisians (it’s totally in French) but can also benefit tourists with a working knowledge of the language and enough vacation days to get their money’s worth.

The guide lists several hundred restaurants in six categories, from gourmet to fast food (some specialize in cuisines other than French). It also offers 50 percent discounts at 200 hotels and inns throughout France, including many in the capital. You can get the discount only once in each listed restaurant, but you can stay in each hotel as often as you like for half price (based on availability).

There’s also a section with discounts for movies, museums, theaters, discos, jazz clubs, concerts, sports clubs, beauty treatments, bike rentals, boat rides and more.

If you already have a valid Entertainment card from another city directory, you can get the Paris guide for $25. For information call (800) 445-4137.

It’s a wrap: Up to five million visitors are expected as the artist Christo wraps the historic Reichstag building in Berlin, once and future home of the German Parliament, in 807,000 square feet of silver polypropylene fabric.

“All hotels will be full, and we have not ruled out the possibility of taking special steps like using school gymnasiums and other facilities to house visitors,” said Ulrich Roloff-Momin, a senior city official.

The wrapping is to begin at dawn on June 17, weather permitting, and will take about six days. The building is to remain wrapped until July 6.

The area around the Reichstag will be open day and night for the entire period of the project. There will be no admission charge.

Safety rentals: Avis is testing a safety device in four cities that projects data from the dashboard onto the windshield so it is visible at a spot just above the top of the hood.

The “head-up display” device, designed by Delco Electronics, shows the driving speed; whether a turn signal or high beam is on, and when fuel, battery or water temperature requires attention.

The 700 to 800 Pontiac Grand Prix autos with the new device will be available until August in Charlotte, N.C.; Indianapolis, Minneapolis and Phoenix.

Renters can request the car, but they cannot reserve it because there are not enough. For more information, call Avis: (800) 331-1212.

Open skies: More flights between Europe and North America should - at least theoretically - be the result of a spate of agreements between the United States and nine European governments to open their skies to each other’s airlines.

Despite a warning in February by the European Union, which wants to negotiate a global accord on air service with Washington, several member countries, including Belgium, Luxembourg and Austria, and some nonmembers, like Switzerland and Iceland, have reached preliminary agreement to phase out restrictive treaties that have governed air travel. The others - Denmark, Sweden, Finland and Norway - are expected to act soon.

After signing a similar agreement with Canada in February, the United States has been seeking to achieve open skies over the major European countries, including France and Germany. So by reaching accords with the smaller countries, the hope is to gain access to the bigger markets as well.