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Member Amanda Benchley recently visited Indagare Adored property Parrot Cay in the Turks and Caicos. Here she recounts her blissful impressions.

About an hour after we arrived at our one-bedroom bungalow in Parrot Cay, I no longer recognized my husband. His tightly wound, overworked body had melted seamlessly into the settee on the screened-in porch. He ended up spending the rest of our three-day weekend alternating naps there with dips in the ocean, all with the half-lidded, lazy smile so often seen on the face of the young honeymooners wandering resort grounds.

That is the beauty of Parrot Cay, especially for those shrouded away in the private bungalows. Upon arrival, a staffer greets you at the boat, whisks you to your own piece of paradise with its open, all-white living room, plunge pool and private beach, and then disappears. And yet, whenever you need something – coffee in the morning, a mid-afternoon coconut milk smoothie, or an extra robe, someone magically appears within moments and poof – vanishes again. Aside from occasional meals in the Lotus restaurant, we hardly saw a soul.

So much has been written about the beauty of Parrot Cay – its flat, scrubby terrain, the endless turquoise sea, sandbars the length of a football field, and the Balinese aesthetic. It’s all true, but the real appeal is the vibe – the relaxed mindlessness is equal to the after-affects of meditation or yoga, which also happens to be available. The spa program is justly famous for its complimentary yoga classes in its tree house-like studio or on the soft sandy beach. I deeply enjoyed a fabulous 90-minute massages each day, took a gentle yoga class as well and a New York–worthy private Pilates lesson, all of which justified more lazing around the cottage.

You can do everything at Parrot Cay (snorkeling, tennis, exercise) or you can do nothing at all. The food, including the healthful spa menu, is divine and prompt, the sunken tiki bar is festive and offers a delightful array of healthy cocktails. But all that is beside the point – nowhere else does such a transformation into Zen-like calm and tranquility happen so quickly, easily and stylishly. A sense that was felt for days after our New York re-entry…no easy feat.

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Indagare members DFC and ES recently returned from their South African honeymoon. Here are their impressions of the special journey.

As I mentioned, the honeymoon was absolutely amazing. I will be thrilled to have a vacation that nice ever again. Below are the highlights.

First Stop: La Residence. This was the biggest surprise of the trip. We couldn’t have enjoyed the area or hotel any more than we did. The service was through the roof—redefined for me what a hotel can do for its guests. The food in Franschhoek rivaled or exceeded the best meals we’ve had in Paris. We loved the pace of each day—extremely relaxing with just enough activity to keep us from getting bored. I would have happily stayed an extra day or two. It would have been great to see Stellenbosch too. If I had known how much we could enjoy the wine country, I might have skipped Hermanus, and allocated the extra days to Franschhoek and Stellenbosch.

Second Stop: Birkenhead House. Beautiful. Loved that the beach was so vast and empty. Views were incredible—we had a nice routine of drinks on the terrace before dinner each night. Your advice that too many days at this hotel could get a little slow was right on. Three nights was just about right.

Third Stop: Ellerman House. What an amazing hotel. One of my mother-in-law’s very well traveled friends insists this is her favorite hotel in the entire world. The building and the grounds were unbeatable. I personally think the room and service at La Residence were just slightly better, but it was a very close call. We really enjoyed the food scene in Cape Town and did a pretty good job of eating at variety of restaurants. One day I think we had 22 individual courses. We’ll be happy to share with you the roster of restaurants if you’re curious.

Fourth Stop: Singita Ebony. We knew this portion of the trip would be amazing and it was. We saw every animal we hoped two within the first two drives. We still can’t get over how close to the animals we were. Lions walked within several feet of my wife’s elbow. The cats were our favorites. The warthogs were the underdog surprise. We saw the carcass of an antelope hanging from a tree—incredible stuff. You were right that three days/night was just about perfect. We could have stayed two nights and still seen all the animals, but it might have felt a little short. I would definitely recommend that safaris longer than four nights be split among multiple properties. We’ve been told that Singita is developing a new lodge in Mozambique that should be ready in two or three years—we’re pretty serious about using that as an excuse to get back to Africa. Our guide was terrific—has a biology degree from a Mexican university.

We knew it would be a terrific trip, but I don’t think either of us expected to like the country/area so much that it would be a priority for us to go back.

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Indagare’s London-based contributor Elena Bowes recently returned from Paris and shares her impressions of the city in this transitional season.

Early March isn’t a time I would normally choose to escape from my home in chilly London to visit equally chilly Paris. But my beau and I were recently invited to a birthday dinner at the 1920’s Art Deco–style Le Prunier on Avenue Victor Hugo.

What we discovered on our trip—which ran approximately 48 hours—is that Paris is virtually tourist-free in March. Thus we were able to pack a lot in while still moving at a leisurely, pleasant pace. Museum lines are short, taxis readily available, corner cafés are filled with locals; Paris in winter belongs to its own, and its few lucky visitors. The city’s sweeping majestic views by day and twinkling monuments by night was ours for the taking.

The two-and-a half-hour Eurostar train from London to Paris is a quick and easy trip. To avoid the inevitably long taxi lines at Gare du Nord, we booked an EcoCab (www.ecocab.fr). Our driver met us on the platform and whisked us to our hotel, the Hotel Saint Vincent, a small boutique property on Avenue Pres aux Clercs in the 7th. It’s an intimate hotel with a lovely staff. The fantastic concierge booked all our taxis and dinner reservations and was exceedingly helpful with our various requests. The minute hotel might not be for everyone but I loved the intimacy. Thierry, the concierge and the breakfast waiter from Mallorca both became our friends by day two.

On our first night we walked into and got seats at the buzzy counter of the normally packed L’Atelier de Joël Robouchon on rue de Montalembert. The menu, while pricey, is worth every cent and the service is equally wonderful.

Day two started with a walk to the nearby Musée d’Orsay where we immersed ourselves in the world of the macabre at Dark Romanticism from Goya to Max Ernst. Inspired by English Gothic novels of the late 18th century, the show looks at how visual artists across Europe played with the underbelly of our imagination. Goya, Gericault, Delacroix and others painted and sculpted images that both horrified and fascinated viewers, with subjects like fatal temptresses, lecherous Satans and gruesome witches. No skeleton is left unburied in this exhibition.

The winter day turned glorious and warm so we lunched in the Tuileries, soaking up rays and admiring views of the Louvre, our next stop. We were headed to see the extensive new Islamic wing, beautifully situated under an undulating white roof-like structure. The two-storied exhibition includes stunning examples of Islamic crafts and textiles dating back thousands of years.

Once we’d seen about a hundred bowls we hopped in a cab and headed to the Marais. We strolled Rue de Bretagne full of beautiful, young, achingly-cool people chatting at cafes (Café Charlot was our pick), and a wide array of unique shops, such as Les Iles Grecques. This good-looking Greek deli mesmerizes with shelves stocked with colorful tin jars of olive oil. Not far from Rue Bretagne, we strolled past the Carreaux du Temple, a covered market that is being transformed into an entertainment center. Next up was the new concept shop, The Broken Arm. Housed in a century-old building on Rue Perree, with Janis Joplin 70’s music playing in the background, The Broken Arms consists of a busy café with delicious looking cakes, and two floors of jewelry, hip fashion-ware, eclectic books and stylish pieces for the home.

On our final day we enjoyed seeing Soleil Froid at the Palais de Tokyo. The very fun, sensory show is by Argentine-born, Paris resident artist Julio Le Parc. He works with light, darkness, movement, mirrors and color to confuse and fascinate the viewer.

We’ll be certainly back, hoping to avoid the crowds again. After all, the long-awaited Picasso Museum re-opens next month after three years of renovation and The LVMH Foundation for Contemporary Art is slated to open this year in a Frank Gehry–designed building in the Bois de Boulogne.

Read Indagare’s Paris destination report