Travel Briefs

In France, the Château of Vaux le Vicomte (77950 Maincy, France; phone +33 1 64 14 41 90, fax 33 1 60 69 90 85, www.vaux-le-vicomte.com), upon which the design for the castle of Versailles was based, is open to visitors in 2008 from March 15 to Nov. 9, 10 a.m.-1 p.m. and 2-5:30. 

Entry at €12.50 (near $19) includes access to the castle, gardens and carriage museum. Night visits cost €15.50 ($24). An audioguide costs €2.50.

The castle’s gardens, open 8 p.m. to midnight, with last admission at 11 p.m., are lit with 2,000 candles on Saturdays, May 3-Oct. 11.

The castle...

2009 marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Darwin and the 150th anniversary of the publication of “On the Origin of Species.” For event info, visit www.darwin200.org. Here are some events.

• Darwin exhibition through April 19 at Natural History Museum in London (www.nhm.ac.uk). 10-5:30 daily. £9 adult, £4.50 child. Commissioned artwork to be unveiled on his birthday, Feb. 12.

• Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (www.kew.org), in London. The Herbarium displays specimens collected by Darwin while on HMS Beagle. 9:30-4:15. £13 adult; free for children under 17. 

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Tristan da Cunha in the South Atlantic is about 2,400 kilometers from Cape Town, South Africa. A small volcanic island with an area of about 100 square kilometers, it is dominated by a central peak and is mostly surrounded by sheer rock cliffs. Only a sloping plateau on the northwest side of the island is inhabitable. Weather, which was beautiful on Valentine’s Day 2006 when I visited during a world cruise on Holland America’s Prinsendam, is subject to sudden change and can be accompanied by fierce winds. It is rare to visit this place, as the weather almost always makes it...