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If you are feeling romantic and you want to be alone with your loved one in a romantic place far from humdrum distractions, why not go to Paris and take a cruise? The cruise ships are gorgeous and offer haute cuisine with fine wines and a wide range of dishes. Service on board is superb and if they know that it is a special trip for you, they will go out of their way to make it even more special.

Just by selecting the city of Paris as your venue, you will be conveying the impression of romance, because as everybody knows, Paris has the reputation of being the capital of the world of romance.

So, how do you go about booking one of these cruises? Well, clearly, first of all, you have to be in Paris. This is not a difficulty, if you live in Europe as there are flights and sleeper trains. If you are American, you will have to take the longer-term view and start saving for next year.

Once in your hotel in Paris, you can either ask reception for details or go to one of the many Tourist Information Centres, where everybody speaks English. The cruise line staff will pick you up from your hotel on the chosen day, so that you will not have the hassle of having to find your way through a strange, busy city alone.

Once on board, the pampering starts with your welcoming on board and a free drink to light the fires of romance. You will enjoy four or more hours of this, depending on which cruise you opt for, but they are all fantastically romantic voyages aboard beautiful cruise liners.

Generally speaking, the cruise will start on the left bank of the river Seine, usually in the vicinity of the Eiffel Tower. Some of these boats are made of a kind of perspex, so that your view of the streets and monuments is unimpeded. And of course, all the sights are lit up at night and in quite a spectacular manner too. You will also be able to gaze downwards into the water itself.

As you cruise on this glass boat you will be entertained by some of the finest musicians that Paris can offer you. Solo instrumentalists; quartets; classical music; solo artiste singers or a duet. There are also cruises with more modern music as well, but I don’t find them as romantic as the more traditional stuff. However, you can take all these details into account when you book your romantic cruise in Paris.

You will not only pass by celebrated landmarks, you will also pass very close by them and even underneath them. Famous bridges; Notre Dame; the Louvre, and many more. Not only that, but you will see all these incredible historical monuments while being pampered by the best hosts that Paris has to offer and drinking fine wines and champagne, seated at the bow of the cruiser in luxury.

Once your romantic cruise and your meal are over, you will be taken to a sumptuous show on the Champs Elysees, where you will be provided with a half bottle of champagne on entry. There is no need to worry about driving, so let your hair down and enjoy yourselves.

When you have had enough of the high life, you will be taken back to your hotel, in the same manner that you were picked up. However, there are other options too. You may want to go back to the hotel on a romantic horse and carriage, it will sustain that romantic mood.

Once you get back to your hotel, why not both get in the bath together? Light a few fragrant candles, open another bottle of wine and play some soft music. It will be an evening you will both remember for the rest of your lives, I assure you.

Owen Jones writes on many subjects, but is currently involved with Valentine’s Day Gift Baskets. If you have an interest in romantic gifts, please go over to our website now at Romantic Gifts Ideas Get a totally unique version of this article from our article submission service

The Theobroma Cacao or ‘the food of the Gods’ is what we all know as the cocoa tree. It’s origins can be traced back to South America’s rain forests, particularly to Central America, although historians are still at variance over certain facts surrounding this tree.

It is proposed that the Mayans first cultivated the cacao tree in 300 AD, although others point to inadequate evidence that it was grown or at least harvested in around 3,000 BC. The Aztecs also used the cacao, but from about 1100 AD.

The chocolate (drink) that we all know today was called ‘xocoatl’. It was a very exclusive beverage that was made with cacao, chilies, anise seed, vanilla, corn meal and some other spices. It is believed that only royalty were allowed to drink it and then only from golden chalices, which were to be used for the purpose only once.

The cacao tree is very sensitive to its environment and it most frequently grows in the shade of the rain forest canopy. If only for this reason alone, chocolate lovers should join forces with the environmentalists to save the rain forests so that the cacaos will continue to exist.

This tree is unusual because its fruits grow directly on its branches and trunk; midges cause the pollination of the flowers during the night time.

The cacao tree is very productive, but not very fruitful. It can have in the region of 10,000 blossoms, but only about 10 to 50 of those will mature into fruits or pods. This is thought to be because the cacao tree can adjust the number of blossoms that will mature according to its ability to handle the energy loss of bearing fruit or pods.

The cacao tree regulates itself in this way to maintain its health. Too many pods might exhaust its energy so much that it could not survive a viral or insect attack or too many ripe pods might snap off its branches.

The cocoa beans grow within the pod, the fruit of the blossom. Harvesters wait for the pod to ripen. They will then break open the pods and take out the seeds, which are surrounded by a white pulp. This is thrown away these days, but it is thought that many years ago it was fermented into an alcoholic drink for ceremonial occasions. The beans are the source of chocolate, although there is plenty to do yet..

The seeds are very bitter at this point and it is for this reason that they will go through a process of fermentation for about three to seven days. This causes the seeds to go through chemical as well as physical changes. The result of this was used for the royal treat, the ‘xocoatl’.

However, to turn it into what we recognize as chocolate, the fermented beans need to go through several more procedures. Processes by the name of: drying, cleaning, roasting, grading, opening, separation, grinding and liquefying.

After liquefying, you have pure chocolate in the form of chocolate liquor. This is sold to chocolate producers and the good ones make high-quality chocolate from it and the bad ones water it down so much that it is hardly chocolate any more.

Owen Jones, the author of this article, writes on many subjects, but is currently involved with Gourmet Chocolate Candy. If you have an interest in romantic gifts, please go over to our website now at Romantic Gifts: Ideas

Not too long ago, I took an inventory of my life. I looked at everything I had ever done. Next, I looked at my failures and was honest with myself about how I contributed to my failures. Thanks to this process, I came to the realization that during those times, I had not been playing 100% of my game of life.

I began looking at others, as well. I recognized that very few were actually playing 100% in their games. When we do not play 100% in the games, there is a good chance they will not win at anything they desire. Why don’t people play 100% in their games? There are so many reasons people hold back. Too many to talk about here in this short article. However, here are two basic thoughts that keep people held back. There are also some simple things people may do which will increase their process of Upgrading Life to a higher level.

To begin, people are afraid and confused. There are many fears human beings hold onto, and they are all based in their heads as fantasies. Fear isn’t real. Fear is something we create in our minds about the future. The first step to overcoming fear is to recognize what we’re afraid of, and realize it is simply something we’re making up. We can be regretful of the past, the present is usually not too scary, but the future can be very scary and is the only place fear resides.

Intelligent people say, “I’m not afraid of anything. I’m just stressed out.” Stress is the intelligent way of saying “fear.” Others will express their fears as anger. All anger is fear based. When a person gets angry, it is wise for the individual to search within himself to find what the root fear that is causing the anger is. Once the root fear is identified, the individual can work to reason themselves into a more stable reality to reduce the fear and diminish the anger.

Another reason why people don’t play 100% in their games is they only focus on the current limitations to achieving their dreams and don’t stay focused on their desired results. Anyone who has achieved any greatness in life, in anything, on any level, ignored why something couldn’t be done and instead chose to stay focused on what they wanted. This is where intelligent people can actually possess a handicap.

People of intelligence can logically tell you why something can not be done. “Winners” have an advantage. Because they are focusing on what they want, they do not know why something can not be done. They only declare what they want. This unique advantage allows this type of person to do the impossible. Look around you. Many impossible things from light bulbs to planes were discovered by people who did not focus on why something could not be done. They on focused on what they wanted.

When we continue to concentrate only on the results we want in life and not on the obstacles or limitations, we win. We achieve the things other people will say are impossible. Lack of money, time, or other resources is of course included in this part of our conversation.

I encourage you to pay attention only to your desired results. Do not pay attention to why something isn’t possible. Ignore your current limitations. When you move forward concentrating on why something can be done and disregard your fears, you will succeed beyond your wildest dreams.

You are now about to discover the secret as to why some people succeed in both life and business while others go through life just wishing for something better. Welcome to the wonderful world of winners.

Your success is much closer than you think.

With Kind Regards,

Dr. Michael J. Duckett

Learn more about success. Stop by Dr. Michael J. Duckett’s site where you can find out all about fear and what it can do for you.