Dites-l’en français! Say It in French!

Become instantly fluent in French! Or German, Italian, Russian, or Spanish, or translate from English into those languages. For more fun, translate the new language back into English. babelfish.altavista.com/translate.dyn

Spend It in Francs!

Convert fivers into francs at the current rate. This page will also give you a little cheat sheet listing various denominations in a size you can print, clip, and slip into a wallet for easy reference. Convert a couple dozen other forms of filthy lucre, too.www.oanda.com/ converter/cheatsheet

Ooo la la!

Nothing says Paris like fashion and nothing says fashion like Christian Dior and Coco Chanel, archrivals in their heydays. Included is the Cartier site because, well, diamonds really can be a girl’s best friend.www.dior.com, www.chanel.com, www.cartier.fr

Savvy Travel Advice

Best Fares is a subscriber site but BizTravel and SmarterLiving are free, and well worth subscribing to the e-mail newsletters. Biz Travel feature irascible travel columnist Joe Brancatelli, who pulls no punches when addressing airline policies and politics, such as the alleged “friendly fire” downing of Flight 800.www.bestfares.com

www.biztravel.com

www.SmarterLiving.com

Author and Chronicle staff writer Margaret Moser has info about her books online at www.dumbest.com

This article appears in August 25 • 2000.

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