Traveling through France on a jaunt across Europe, or as your only destination for gay vacations for singles or couples, France is a trip that everyone should experience at least once. With snowcapped alps, the magnificent French Riviera, world famous art collections, pristine beaches, pastoral landscapes dotted with medieval castles, villages and ruins that tell the story of Frances diverse history, and the truly exquisite cosmopolitan city of Paris, travelers are sure to find exactly what they are looking for when visiting this unique country.

Gay vacations often center around Paris and its vibrant LGBT community, cultural and historical landmarks and accepting cosmopolitan environment, visitors will find that throughout France there is plenty to do and see, as well as many LGBT establishments and a welcoming atmosphere. Laws outlawing sodomy were abolished over 200 years ago and Frances LGBT community has enjoyed civil unions for the last decade. With legal protections in place and a general laissez-faire attitude that is common among the French, visitors will find that France provides an accepting and safe gay tours.

Numerous community events take place across the country throughout the year, including several pride festivals and a very well-attended pride parade and festival and gay and lesbian film festival in Paris. Some unique establishments to check out while in Paris on a gay vacation include the Marais district LGBT-owned bakery, Legay Choc; the ArtMenParis exhibit of all-male images; and Madame Arthur, LArtishow and Chez Michou, three cabarets with female impersonators and drag shows. Paris nightlife is lively, with bars open from afternoon until 2am and clubs opening at midnight, and often staying open until noon.

For men in search of the bawdier side of gay vacations in Paris, sex clubs, bars with backrooms and popular cruising spots are readily available. There are also plenty of saunas (bathhouses) to choose from; however, French saunas operate differently than what some travelers might be accustomed to in Canada or America. In France, saunas have relaxation cubicles rather than private rooms for rent and visiting saunas is largely an afternoon activity, with Sunday afternoons being the most popular time.

Most gay vacation spots cater largely to men, have little to no visible lesbian presence and offer few establishments dedicated to the lesbian community. Women will be delighted to discover that this is not the case in Paris. Parisian lesbians and visitors enjoy a multitude of venues and organizations that can be found throughout the city, but particularly in the neighborhoods of Marais, Grands Boulevards, Halles-Beaubourg, Saint Germain des Pres and Palais Royal. Palais Royal is home to one of the oldest lesbian bars in Paris, while the Bastille-Republique district has a delightful community bookstore with a distinct Sapphic flare. There is also a lesbian walking group and even a sex shop that caters solely to women.

While Paris may be the most popular gay tour spot in France, there are many others to choose from as well, including Nantes in Brittany, Avignon in Provence, Annecy in the Alps, Nice and Montpellier on the Mediterranean coast and, of course, the popular community beaches of Camargue, where naturism is the norm. Saint Tropez on the French Riviera is another spot to visit in hopes of catching a glimpse of the rich and famous, while an LGBT-owned bed and breakfast outside of Bourdeaux is the ideal setting for a romantic getaway. The many options available for gay vacation packages in France make this beautiful country the perfect destination for gay couples travel.

Commentary about France created by Howie Holben. Spirit Journeys presents gay travel ideas and has a gay travel guide.

Beliefs determine how we see, interact and experience the world around us. Beliefs are ideas that are made after repetition and contemplation, that are accepted as truth and reality and therefore impact how we see life.

Belief and knowledge are often in conflict. The difference might be subtle, but substantial. Knowledge is something that you and others, who might be considered experts in that field, consider to be true and there is reasonable, plausible, and provable scientific explanation for that knowledge.

A belief on the other hand is based on personal experience or pure faith.

Too many people require you to accept their belief based on blind faith. Belief is not knowledge and therefore usually not provable beyond a shadow of a doubt.

Remember, it wasn’t long ago that people believed the world was flat, and that we thought women were witches, hunted them down, and burned them.

Welcome to belief, which is based on superstitions, or blindness.

Stupid humans who once believed that the Earth was the center of the universe, and that it was flat. Really it demonstrated that what really was FLAT was the human ability to think outside the box and perceive something that others could not perceive.

When scientists discovered great things, hundreds of years ago, they were imprisoned, tortured and murdered. The Catholic Church did not want people to see beyond, and therefore stopped the voices of these researchers.

Actually, during that time in history it was thought to be common knowledge that these ancient flat world beliefs were true. Even though humankind was sincere in its ignorant beliefs, those beliefs were false and by not believing as the others told you to, you were subject to arrest, imprisonment, and torture which often lead to death.

Times have changed. Today, things that you believe have changed, and you may believe in something so firmly that you count it as knowledge. When, in fact, there may be considerable evidence from the past experience that a particular belief is a truth,” its only truth for you from your personal experience. Just because you believe it is true, does not make it true. Although it might become a truth for you personally, by believing it you are limiting yourself by holding on to self-limiting beliefs.

The trick is to pull back the veneer and see the real truth. That is one that is universal and does not need to be believed, it just is. These are referred to as universal truths. They exist and work beyond our own self-limiting beliefs. They shape and work through the universe and in our lives.

Gravity is a truth. Believe in it or not. Its still a real truth. If you drop something it will fall to the ground. If you trip, and fall, you could hurt your butt. You can only fall DOWN, you don’t fall up.

Now this is only a truth that exists here on Earth under normal circumstances. There are other forces that can resist this law such as a strong wind. You may have been programmed since childhood to believe things that you thought to be true – but, once you realized that they were not true, you may have wondered why you wasted time and energy believing in them at all.

Take the case of Santa Claus. You believed he was real. You believed that by some mystical miracle he went around the world in one night and brought presents to every well-behaved child. You may have further believed that he ate the burnt cookies you left for him and he drank that horrible lactose free milk. You believe that it was all related to your doing good things and not bad things, and that Santa was well, almost like God!

There was potent evidence to your faith:

Your parents told you he was real. (You trusted your parents without question)

The cookies were disappeared and the milk glass was empty. Even the crumbs disappeared.

There were presents under the Christmas tree in the morning.

You saw Santa at the supermarket, and you had a picture of Santa to prove it.

Your friends believed in him also.

All of this evidence pointed toward knowledge, you just knew he existed. It pointed to a truth in that not only did you know he existed, everyone around you knew also. This belief as you found out was not true. It had shaped your view of the world as a child and still may have a lingering impact on your current belief system.

The point is that there are other things that you may believe are true, but are not. You have been told things all your life for a variety of reasons: to make you feel better, to be funny, to hurt you, because other people believed it was true, and for other noble and not so noble reasons. You made the choice whether to believe what was being told you. You weighed this information and decided whether it fit or not into your already existing belief system. You either rejected the idea straight out, accepted it as part of what you already believed, or it changed your belief system.

Beliefs are very powerful, and they do shape our reality. If you believe in something strong enough, it becomes real in your life. There is a universal law that states that likes attract like. If you believe in something strong enough it not only becomes your reality, it attracts similar things to your life.

Suppose you believe you are clumsy. Your parents said you were clumsy, your coach as school did and so did your friends. They told you that you were an accident waiting to happen. You thought this to be true. Your whole life you tripped over your shadow. Not only did you believe this, but you also created that reality and circumstances of being clumsy.

Examine your beliefs and draw back the veil. Well, Ill be. They seem to have constantly hypnotized me to trip myself up — all my life — well, I’ll be! And, then – you don’t have to be! It’s all your belief.

Dr. Jay Polmar, author of Thinkright, was a teacher and instructor at colleges and universities in the Southwest and Hawaii about the quality and power of Thought being an active force in creating the quality of your life. Learn more in Thinkright.

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Have you ever read about a fabulous sale, only to get to the store and discover you’ve been tricked? What was offered for sale is not available, but surprise! There’s another deal, which of course, is going to ask you to part with a great deal more money!!

It’s known as the Bait and Switch game of marketing. We’d like to share a different, more positive game, called the Subconscious Bait and Switch! Here’s how it works.

You “BAIT” those deep, dark memories, thoughts, and feelings – at a time when you are not going through an emotional experience – when you can evaluate them objectively and dispassionately – like after some meditation time at Headquarters, or when you are doing some journaling. You “Bait” your subconscious by saying or thinking key phrases that are incomplete, allowing your subconscious to fill in the blank.

For example, in your own mind, complete these sentences:

“I am just no good at ” (singing; marketing; managing money; meeting people..) “I would be so much better off, if it weren’t for” (parents; my boss; some past event) “The one thing I fear most is” (failure; looking silly; being taken advantage of; being alone; health problems.) “When I look in the mirror” (OK – no examples necessary!)

You get the idea Your subconscious immediately fills in the blank. This is your cue to pull the “Switch!”

You “Baited” the error thought to come to the surface, but instead of nurturing that belief, and supporting it with your thoughts, words, and actions, you move into the process of Truth Transformation! You write your thoughts down, and then set the intention to replace that self defeating thought with a more empowering Truth about who you are.

For example, let’s use a non-threatening, low-risk one: “I’m just no good at singing!” Let’s evaluate that thought for Truth. Who says that? Who am I comparing myself against: my friends or Celine Dion? What if I sang for fun? What if I asked someone I trust to give me an honest appraisal of my singing? How is claiming that I can’t sing serving me?

Now for the most important piece: Every time I catch myself saying this, what could I say instead? Create a replacement phrase for yourself. Not a lie that you can’t even begin to believe, but some replacement that moves you to a better place in your subconscious about this issue. In this example, you might say instead, “I enjoy singing for fun!” or “I like to sing in the shower!” Can’t you already feel the cobwebs being swept away? Try the Subconscious Bait and Switch to become aware of your hidden limiting thoughts and beliefs, and transform your thinking and your experience!