Paris. The city of baguette nibbling. A metropolis of orange juice drinking. A place where you need to have a piece of crap car and drive real fast…

Paris may be home to some remarkable historical monuments, a giant metal protrusion, and crepes, but it’s also home to something even more incredible.

Enter: L’Etoile. One of the world’s most dangerous roundabouts. Or, as French podcasters @atfrenchies recently called it: “the most dangerous roundabout in the world.”

@atfrenchies’ claim recently led into a broader discussion about some of the unwritten rules tourists need to know before getting behind the wheel of a car in Paris.

First though: a little context. L’Etoile is a huge traffic circle around the Arc de Triomphe. It’s officially called the Place Charles de Gaulle, but is usually referred to as the Etoile (French for star), due to the configuration of the intersection, with the various avenues branching out from the Arc de Triomphe like the points of a star.

To explain how the Arc de Triomphe works, allow us to turn to a Parisian cab driver, quoted by blogger Rick Steves: “If there is an accident here, each driver is considered equally at fault. This is the only place in Paris where the accidents are not judged. No matter what the circumstances, insurance companies split the costs fifty-fifty.”

“In Paris, a good driver gets only scratches, not dents.”

At the Arc de Triomphe roundabout, cars entering the circle, counter-intuitively (to those not used to it), have the right-of-way.

“Those in the circle must yield,” Rick Steves explains. “Parisian drivers navigate the circle like a comet circling the sun — making a parabola. It’s a game of fender-bender chicken. Tippy little Citroën 2CVs, their rooftops cranked open like sardine lids, bring lumbering buses to a sudden, cussing halt.”

Next to @atfrenchies’ video, people expressed various opinions on the Arc de Triomphe roundabout, as well as advice for driving in Paris.

One Instagram user wrote: “Just have a crap old car and drive fast!! Worked for me 30 years ago.” Others asked them if it was a Supra.

Another said: “When I was Learning how to drive, (living in Paris farthest suburbs) I have had 2 lessons there . The first one with an old traditional teacher : had to go on the outer (inexistant) line, and stop at each street as the car coming from your right have priority.”

“The second teacher was much younger and said ‘just go in the middle and then straight to the street you want more or less without caring for other cars’. broke no car so far.”

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“It’s the first place you go with your dad when you have your licence,” another Instagram user commented. “Just to be sure that you can drive in Paris. The secret is that you don’t stop :).”

There you have it: that’s why insurance companies (reportedly) make you pay extra for a package that covers driving around the Arc de Triomphe roundabout… Plus some bonus tips on driving in Paris to go with it.

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The post Unwritten Rules Tourists Need To Know Before Driving In Paris appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

It was a moment that is sure to be talked about for years to come. In the future, you’ll likely hear the phrase, ‘remember that time Will Smith sucker slapped Chris Rock during the Oscars?!’ and you’ll all reminisce about the shocking incident.

Overall, it made headlines around the world. People on Twitter were initially arguing whether the whole slap was staged or not. Others were commenting on why Smith was not arrested for assault. Many actually backed what Smith did as he was just defending his wife from Rock’s insensitive joke. And of course, many celebrities weighed in their thoughts on the whole thing.

In my opinion, both Rock and Smith were in the wrong; although I can be more forgiving towards Rock, as it is a comedian’s job to push the envelope and roast celebrities at these lavish award ceremonies. In case you’re unfamiliar with the whole situation, (how?! Where have you been the last few days?) I’ll break it down.

Rock, while presenting an award made a joke that essentially poked fun at Jada Pinkett Smith (Smith’s wife) and her shaved head. This was rather thoughtless as Pinkett Smith suffers from alopecia – a medical condition that causes severe hair loss – and while Pinkett Smith has been open about her experience with the disease, it was extremely cruel for Rock to bring it to everyone’s attention, especially as she can’t really do anything about it.

That’s when Smith, after initially laughing at the joke and then seeing the hurt look on his wife’s face, stormed the stage, slapped Rock, returned to his seat and yelled “keep my wife’s name out of your f**king mouth!”

Let me be clear: violence is NEVER okay. Yes, the joke was inconsiderate but Smith should never have reacted the way he did. He should have pulled Rock aside after the ceremony and told him why his joke was not acceptable.

Ultimately, both Rock and Smith did something bad, leaving neither as the victor of the altercation. So, who did win? It certainly wasn’t the people who won Oscars – including the first deaf man to win an Oscar, Troy Katsur and the first openly queer woman of colour to win an Oscar, Ariana DeBose – as their incredible wins were sadly overshadowed.

No, the winner was the photographer who captured the moment, Brian Snyder. Snyder is a Boston-based photojournalist, who has won the Boston Press Photographers Association’s Photographer Of The Year award twice.

Surely, Snyder will now win the most coveted and prestigious photojournalism award, the World Press Photo Of The Year, thanks to his photo that captured the moment Smith hit Rock, as his photo has been used by every publication under the sun and has even become a meme.

Snyder told CNN Business that during the moment he wasn’t sure if the slap was staged or not but, regardless, he just clicked away.

“It’s a case of reacting — you see something happening and react.”

Congrats Snyder for being so quick on the trigger during the unexpected moment; you definitely have my vote for Photo Of The Year and you truly are the only winner in the whole Smith & Rock fiasco.

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The post The One Winner In The Will Smith vs. Chris Rock ‘Smackdown’ appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

From The Fifth Element and Pulp Fiction to Apex and Out Of Death, action star Bruce Willis has been in at least 124 movies over the years.

Bruce is stepping away from acting, however, at age 67 after being diagnosed with aphasia. This is according to a statement made by his family.

Aphasia is a condition that robs you of your ability to comprehend or formulate language because of damage to certain brain regions. The major causes of aphasia are stroke and head trauma. It can also happen over time due to a brain tumour or degenerative diseases.

“As a result of this and with much consideration Bruce is stepping away from the career that has meant so much to him” his family wrote on Instagram.

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“This is a really challenging time for our family and we are so appreciative of your continued love, compassion and support,” the statement read.

“We are moving through this as a strong family unit, and wanted to bring his fans in because we know how much he means to you, as you do to him.”

“As Bruce always says, ‘Live it up’ and together we plan to do just that.”

In that spirit, here are some of Bruce Willis’ best 5 movies (in our opinion).

Fifth Element

In Fifth Element, a 1997 English-language French science fiction action film, Bruce Willis, Gary Oldman, and Milla Jovovich come together to create, what some reviewers have called one of the best movies many people have never seen.

Mostly set in the 23rd century, the film boils down to a conundrum where the survival of planet Earth is at stake. Tasked with saving it is Korben Dallas (Willis), a taxicab driver and former special forces major, after a young woman (Jovovich) falls into his cab. To save the world, Dallas joins forces with her to find four mystical stones which must be used to defend the Earth against the looming attack of an evil cosmic entity.

The Fifth Element earned $263 million at the box office. It got mostly positive reviews (however some critics slammed it). It also won a slew of awards. It currently has a 3.5 star rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Whole Nine Yards

The Whole Nine Yards came out in the year 2000. It’s an American crime comedy. It’s very funny. Jonathan Lynn directed it. Warner Bros distributed it. Bruce Willis, Matthew Perry, Amanda Peet, Michael Clarke Duncan, and Natasha Henstridge starred in it. The plot centred around a dentist who travels to Chicago to tell a mob boss where his new neighbor – a former hitman with a price on his head – is. Whole Nine Yards got mixed reviews from critics and grossed $106 million. A sequel was released in 2004. It got two stars on Rotten Tomatoes.

The Jackal

Rated number #53 on Rotten Tomatoes review of all Bruce Willis’ movies ranked, we reckon this is a massively underrated action flick. During an FBI raid on a Moscow nightclub, the brother of Russian gangster Terek Murad (David Hayman) is killed. Murad seeks revenge by and hiring an anonymous hit man (the Jackal, played by Bruce Willis) to kill FBI Deputy Director Carter Preston (Sidney Poitier).

Preston teams up with Valentina Koslova (Diane Venora) and an imprisoned IRA terrorist who is the only person who knows what the Jackal looks like (Declan Mulqueen, played by Richard Gere) to trac Willis’ character down.

Although The Jackal film got mostly negative reviews from critics, it was a money maker, grossing $159.3 million worldwide against a $60 million budget.

Die Hard

What more can we say? The iconic action film. Perhaps the most famous movie Bruce Willis starred in, Die Hard boasts a rare 4.5 stars on Rotten Tomatoes. It’s plot isn’t overly complicated, but has just enough spice to keep things interesting.

In Die Hard, New York City policeman John McClane (Bruce Willis) is visiting his estranged wife (Bonnie Bedelia) and two daughters on Christmas Eve. He joins her at a holiday party in the office of the business she works for. But the party is interrupted by a group of terrorists who take over the headquarters. Soon McClane (Willis) realises it’s up to him to save the day.

Sixth Sense

If you like a little psychological horror to go along with your thriller, this one’s for you. Released in 1999, Bruce Willis shines as a child psychologist whose patient (Haley Joel Osment) can talk to the dead. If you’re a Bruce Willis fan, this is also parcicularly good for you: critics praised Willis’ performance (and some of the others stars) particularly, as well as the ambience created (and of course the twist).

Sixth Sense was nominated for a slew of Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Original Screenplay, Best Supporting Actor, and Best Supporting Actress. Sixth Sense was also the second-highest-grossing film of 1999.

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The post Bruce Willis Is Retiring From Acting: Here Are His 5 Best Movies appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

After what’s felt like a lifetime, Watches & Wonders – the world’s biggest watch fair – is back for 2022. We’re here on the ground in Geneva for the fair, and the city is absolutely humming, with thousands of watch fans and dozens of the world’s top watchmakers all in town for a week of exciting releases.

Naturally, all the big names are here, including that titan of the watch industry, Rolex. The Genevan brand has kicked things off for the fair in a big way with an impressive swathe of new releases, including a new yellow gold Yacht-Master (plus a blingy white gold diamond bezel model too), an update to the often-overlooked Air-King and a new dial treatment for the Datejust 31 which features flowers with diamonds for pistils…

But the big news is that there’s a new GMT-Master II. The iconic watch is already one of the most in-demand timepieces in the world: you’ve no doubt heard of the ‘Pepsi’ and ‘Batman’, nicknames for the different bezel colour combinations the GMT-Master comes in.

Well, here’s another nickname you’ll need to know – the ‘Destro’. Meet Rolex’s latest GMT-Master: maybe the most out-there watch Rolex has released in recent memory, and no doubt a name that’s quickly going to cement itself as a pillar of modern watch culture.

Why ‘Destro’? Well, it refers to the fact that this new GMT-Master is designed for those who wear their watch on their right hand. Generally speaking, that’s mostly left-handed people. Yes, these photos aren’t flipped: the Destro’s crown is indeed on the left-hand side, as is its date window, which is now at 9 o’clock instead of 3 o’clock.

If that wasn’t exciting enough, the Destro also features a brand-new and totally exclusive bezel colour combination, black and green. The Destro’s GMT hand is also dipped in green. Looks like Rolex is paying attention to everyone’s obsession with green at the moment – and a good thing, too. We reckon the Destro’s signature colour combination is slick.

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In short, it’s one hell of a double-whammy. It’s hard to overstate just how radical the Destro is for a brand like Rolex, who’s normally fairly staid and is more about evolution than revolution if you catch our drift. It’s a bit of a niche play: only around 10% of the global population is left-handed, and most lefties are more than happy to wear right-handed watches. More to the point, over its 117-year history, Rolex has only ever made a handful of left-handed watches.

Even stranger is how the date window has been moved to 9 o’clock. Most left-handed watches (i.e. watches with a crown on the left-hand side) keep the date window in the typical 3 o’clock position. Rolex mentioned in their keynote how it required significant re-engineering to move the date window over. It makes the Destro quite visually unique… But yeah, it’s an oddball move.

That said, we doubt very much that most buyers will indeed be lefties. People will snap up this bad boy because it looks cool, and looks very different to any other GMT-Master.

DMARGE spoke exclusively with Paul Altieri, Founder + CEO of Bob’s Watches and an expert on all things Rolex, who’s completely rapt about the Destro.

“A GMT-Master II for lefties? No one saw this coming. It is known that Rolex produced left-handed watches in very small numbers as early as the 1950s, but more than likely by special request,” he explains.

“This is truly what revolutionary design looks like… A masterclass creation from the Crown. Years in the making no doubt. Bravo!”

Paul expects Rolex will only make a limited quantity so getting your hands on one will be difficult. “Exciting and reasonably priced at retail – not that the price tag would mean anything. No doubt this will be a tough piece to acquire either way.”

“It might encourage double wristers – I want one!” You and me both, Paul…

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The post Rolex’s New GMT-Master Is A Total Game Changer appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, we all know what infamously happened at the 94th Academy Awards ceremony; Will Smith stormed the stage and slapped Chris Rock because of a joke made at the expense of Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith.

The incident caused quite the controversy; some applauded Smith for standing up for his wife – Pinkett Smith suffers from alopecia and Rock’s joke seemed to dig at that medical condition – while others are adamant that violence is never okay and Smith should be arrested.

While Smith has now publicly apologised, – during his Best Actor acceptance speech and via an Instagram post – multiple celebrities like Jim Carrey, Zoe Kravitz and Jaden Smith (Smith and Pinkett Smith’s son) have weighed in on the whole fiasco, which has led the internet to vie for controversial comedian Ricky Gervais to comment.

Gervais, who has hosted the Golden Globes five times, is renowned for making ‘offensive’ jokes at various celebrities’ expense, and while he has faced backlash for these jokes many times, he’s never been physically assaulted.

Gervais even told Today in an interview earlier this year that he’d never host the Academy Awards because he wouldn’t be allowed to make the harsh jokes he would want to – although it seems Rock was given that allowance…

“[The Golden Globes] said I can write my own jokes and say what I want, no rehearsals. The Oscars would never. And if the Oscars said that, then I’d do it… but that would never happen.”

Plus, hours before Smith hit Rock, Gervais actually slammed the Oscars on Twitter for being hypocritical as it’s “diverse” and “progressive” except when it comes to “poor people”.

Now, the comedian, also known for The Office and Derek – to Twitter’s delight – has Tweeted about the whole incident between Smith and Rock…. Sort of.

Michael McKean, the Emmy-nominated actor, Tweeted, “Thought experiment: same scene, same joke, but replace Chris Rock with Ricky Gervais.”

This Tweet gained multiple responses ranging from, “…If everybody Ricky Gervais insulted at the Golden Globes had gone up and slapped him, there’d have been a line to the back of the auditorium and the show would’ve lasted all night,” to “Will Smith probably wouldn’t have gone up on the stage. But if he did, Ricky Gervais would’ve sprinted out of the building.”

Gervais simply replied:

“You’re basically asking if he would slap a much heavier, angrier, drunker man.”

Gervais also Retweeted a short clip from an old episode of The Office where his character mentions alopecia.

While we’ll never know what would’ve happened if Gervais had been the one to present during the Oscars or joke about Pinkett Smith’s hair, let’s just be honest…

This is the one time we’re happy Gervais wasn’t involved in a controversial joke as the whole Smith and Rock altercation – while we don’t condone either Rock’s insensitive joke or Smith’s deplorable violence – definitely made the Oscars the most exciting it’s been in years.

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The post Everyone’s Favourite Jerk Ricky Gervais Weighs In On Will Smith Fiasco appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

Burn your Qantas pyjamas, shred your Etihad slippers, chuck your Qatar face mask in the trash: lie-flat business class could be in its twilight years.

How so? According to Anthony Harcup – senior director at design house Teague – from the year 2025, business class is going to start looking a lot different. According to Harcup, this is because technological developments and geo-political shifts (and changing consumer preferences) mean double aisle jets are on the decline and single-aisle jets (and shorter flights) are becoming the money makers for airlines.

Harcup predicts this will lead to a business class revolution, in which the focus of the pointy end shifts from sleeping to working.

The result? Lie-flat business class seats may start getting the boot. But it’s not all bad news, Harcup also told DMARGE there will be a lot of exciting new developments, and intriguing designs competing in this soon-to-be-contested design space.

Harcup provided DMARGE with the following statement (he has also discussed this topic previously with CNN): “Business Class seats are generally characterized by a seat that transforms into a bed, often made private by way of a suite door that closes-off the passenger from the aisle to create more privacy.”

“These products were brought about so that passengers could sleep on flights of 8hrs+ and were developed for widebody aircraft – because these were the only aircraft able to fly long haul. The geometry and features were developed within this product ecosystem – large and voluminous aircraft cabins with relatively high ceilings and significant payloads, flying to major airport hubs accustomed to accommodating and servicing larger and more complex aircraft.”

“Business class is changing shape and I believe premium seating products are still finding their true identity and purpose in a disrupted market place.”

Anthony Harcup

In the last 5 years, however, there has been a major decrease in demand for widebody aircraft in favour of more versatile, fuel-efficient long-range narrow-body aircraft. As a result, Harcup says, airlines have started to equip their single-aisle aircraft with premium lay-flat seats, “so that they can service mid and long haul routes with similar levels of comfort to wide body.”

“If this continues, the future market for business class travel (or at least a large segment of it) will be on single aisle aircraft…”

Anthony Harcup

Harcup adds: “Initially we saw lay-flat seats (like the Thompson vantage seat, or Safran Cirrus) being directly transferred from widebody to narrow-body. As these are not purpose-designed for single-aisle proportions, they result in either sub-optimal passenger experience (like having to step over your neighbour to get out of a window seat) or a sub-optimal passenger density (the relaxed installation angle leaves a huge aisle).”

For this reason, Harcup says, “we are now seeing a new generation of seats that are designed specifically to optimize the geometry of the single aisle cabin (like Thompsons vantage solo/ Jetblue MINT2)…” He also reckons that in the next few years we will see an influx of new-to-market, purpose-designed single aisle seats.

“They have been in development with all the major seat suppliers for a number of years and are now being selected for development by many of the major airlines.”

Anthony Harcup

“But….. I believe that whilst these products are definitely a step forward, the future of business class seating will be more sympathetic to the single aisle environment and product ecosystem,” Harcup adds.

Harcup says that putting flat-bed seats in single aisle aircraft could, looking back in a few years, look like a knee-jerk reaction to a market demand that the industry has not yet fully understood. Why? There are different market dynamics at play now.

How so? In double aisle jets, the fundamental experience driver for lie flat seats “was to provide a comfortable and private sleeping environment for flight times of 8-14hrs – so unarguably a flat-bed was (and still is) a great answer  – especially if you have a connecting flight to endure afterwards,” Harcup says.

On a long haul narrow-body, however, the kind of jet which Harcup sees the aviation world gravitating towards, you are more likely to be travelling point-to-point (no connecting flight) and you are more likely to be on a flight with a duration of 4-6 hours (punctuated with food service). Additionally, Harcup shared with DMARGE, “many of these flights are day-flights with wifi connectivity (so passengers may-well value productivity oversleep).”

“If sleeping is no-longer the primary experience we are designing for, then we are likely in the experimental first stages of defining a completely new generation of products that will utilize space in a whole new way.”

Anthony Harcup

“We have an opportunity (and arguably a responsibility) to redefine what a ‘premium experience’ is in this case. If we don’t need to go flat to be comfortable for 4-6hrs, where else should we invest that valuable real estate? Perhaps the configuration of furniture elements will be very different? If the cushions no longer need to be flat, perhaps we will see more interesting seats and upholstery?”

“Additionally,” Harcup says, “airlines are not used to operating single aisle aircraft equipped with heavy and complex seating products with powered mechanisms – and generally this impacts their fuel efficiency, reliability and versatility.”

“I think we will see more simple, lightweight seating solutions –  and we are seeing some concept-seats leaning this way already.”

Anthony Harcup

Given the general development timelines, Harcup thinks we will start to see products along these lines beginning to emerge from 2025, and he predicts that single-aisle premium seating “will become the new battle-ground for IP in aircraft interiors.”

Harcup also told DMARGE that airlines would look to make the most of the ‘wasted’ space that often occurs at the start of business class on single-aisle jets not only by using it to create special, first-class style suites, but also potentially for coat storage or galley equipment.

“When putting a premium service on a narrow-body that is expected to match that of a wide-body, space for galley equipment, food preparation, and coat storage is challenging to find – comparative to wide-bodies where there is vastly more real estate and areas of opportunity to take advantage of.”

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The post After 2025, Lie-Flat Seats May Go The Way Of The Dodo appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

Dave Asprey, the American biohacker, author and entrepreneur, has been adamant for years that even tiny amounts of light – like the pinhead-sized red light that comes from a television screen to indicate it’s off – can ruin your sleep.

The biohacker is now delighted that an extensive new study supports his view, and he took to Instagram to share the results of the study.

“Small amount[s] of light raised the blood sugar and heart rate of healthy young people.”

Asprey also shared a few awesome tips that’ll give you the best deep sleep you’ve ever had – every single night – and they all involve getting rid of all lights in your room before you sleep; even the street light that leaks in through your curtains or blinds.

“Unplug or tape over every source of light in your room. Get real light-blocking curtains. [And] put velcro around the edges of your curtains so zero light gets in.”

Asprey has explained in a past Instagram post why artificial lights – or as Asprey calls them ‘junk lights’ – mess with your sleep and cause bad health which is why it’s so important to eliminate any source of light in your bedroom before sleeping and have a completely dark room – which Asprey calls a ‘sleep cave.’

“All of those [artificial lights] mess with your mitochondria. And here’s something almost no one knows about: Our cells make light. Just like an LED light bulb. They just make little tiny bits of it.”

“And at night, our cells talk to each other with light. [But] then, if it’s bright though, the light from a single LED bulb can overwhelm the light that your body uses to communicate with itself and then all the repair processes that were supposed to happen at night, they don’t work. And instead of working as a system, your body works as a bunch of little different things that can’t talk to each other.”

“This is why having a sleep cave is so terribly important. For your mitochondrial function, for your brain and for not getting every kind of disease that you can name.”

If you’re wondering what mitochondria are, put simply, they’re a part of your cells that turn your food into fuel and give you energy. So, they are extremely important and it’s wild to think that just by sleeping with a few small lights on, you could ruin their process as well as your body’s natural repair mechanism.

“I double my deep sleep when I completely avoid junk light… Go into your bedroom and look for every LED that’s on at night and cover them up!”

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The post Want To Double Your Deep Sleep? Try This appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

The Audi A3 family has consistently been one of Audi’s best-selling model ranges in Australia – and it’s not hard to see why.

The popular compact is luxurious, versatile, and extremely competitively priced. It also serves as the basis for the fire-breathing RS3, which is one of the most exciting small performance cars money can buy.

But between the A3 and the RS3, you have the S3 – which, I must admit, was always a car that confused me a bit. I always saw it as a bit of a compromise: not as fast or prestigious as the RS3, but more expensive than the A3. It’s like, why not just get the RS3? Or a Golf R?

Well, after driving the latest edition of the S3, I can safely say that I was wrong in my assumptions. Rather than being a compromise, the S3 is actually the best of both worlds – especially with this latest model. Indeed, I’d go as far to say that it’s one of the smartest cars you could hope to buy.

First, let’s talk stats. The new, fourth-generation Audi S3 is endowed with a turbocharged 2.0L inline-four that makes a solid 228kW and 400Nm of torque, with a 0-100km/h time of 4.8 seconds. There’s only one transmission on offer, a 7-speed S tronic dual-clutch number, and the S3 is blessed with the latest iteration of Audi’s quattro permanent all-wheel-drive system.

Aussies will be pleased to hear that while previous generations of the S3 were detuned for the Australian market, the new S3 isn’t. We’re getting the full-fat version.

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The S3 also looks pretty special, and it’s easy to tell an S3 apart from an A3 (if the red S badge wasn’t enough of a clue). Bonnet vents above the honeycomb single-frame grille, more angular matrix LED headlights, S-specific wheels… It’s a pretty car.

Like the A3, it’s available in either Sedan or Sportback (i.e. hatchback) guise. The sedan is slightly longer and therefore slightly heavier, but Audi says the performance figures are identical between the two body styles.

I had the chance to take an S3 Sportback for a day’s drive in and around Hobart, Tasmania – which might actually be the ultimate city for car lovers. While the old stereotype about Hobart not having any traffic lights might not be true anymore, traffic’s still pretty light, Tasmanian drivers are friendly and considerate, and the general level of driving competency is much higher than on the mainland. Especially Sydney.

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Then, once you get out of the city (which really only takes 15min or so, because Hobart is tiny), you start getting served a smorgasbord of beautiful, twisty and engaging roads. The speed limits are exceedingly generous, too: perfect for a bit of Vorsprung durch Technik.

In fact, they’re probably a bit too generous. Some of those winding mountain roads with a posted limit of 100km/h would probably kill you if you tried tackling them at 50… But this is where the S3 was a revelation. I could take those roads at the speed limit with the confidence that the sticky S3 with its intelligent quattro all-wheel-drive and wheel-selective brake application would keep me firmly planted.

One particularly cool feature of the S3 is its electromechanical progressive steering rack with speed-dependent power assistance. What this means is that when you’re out on the highway or on the track, the steering is perfect for fine handling adjustments… But then when you need to do a tricky reverse park in the inner city, you don’t have to reef the wheel around lock to lock when maneuvering.

Why do we care about reverse parking? Well, those little domestic details are kind of the essence of the car. The S3 has more than enough power and performance credentials to make it a truly engaging sports car but is also easy to live with. It’s the perfect daily driver.

It’s got a split-folding rear seat so you can easily get cargo in and out (another reason to pick the Sportback in my opinion). It’s got all the safety aids you’d expect from a top-tier luxury car, like adaptive cruise control with traffic jam and active lane assist. The cockpit might all be angled towards you like a fighter pilot, but everything’s laid out in a thoughtful manner, like actual physical climate controls. Not everything needs to be on a touch screen! Yes, this is the hill I’ll die on.

In short, it’s the Swiss army knife of cars. It can do a bit of everything, and it does it all pretty well. The only thing I’ll say is that if this is the standard the S3 sits at, I’m dying to see just how mental the new RS3 will be…

Find out more about the new Audi S3 as well as the rest of the A3 family at Audi’s online showroom here.

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The post Audi S3 Review: The Swiss Army Knife Of Sports Cars appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

Bali. The promised land of cocktails. The mecca of mysterious tan lines. A melting pot of hedonism and spirituality. Alex Garland’s worst nightmare. A place best experienced while you’re still young enough to look good with tattoos and a motorbike, but old enough to be able to afford travel insurance and a villa in Canggu. That’s how many tourists think of Bali, anyway (as one TikTok user puts it: Bali is one of the best islands to visit while you’re young).

But that’s a skewed vision of Bali. There’s more to it than what your local influencer shows you. The Island Of Gods has plenty of quirks that can confuse, amaze and shock tourists. And over the years tourists have had some pretty crazy experiences in Bali.

Speaking of which: The Canggu Pole (a Bali expat community page/meme account, based in Canggu) has shared a bunch of the wildest experiences tourists have had in Bali, generated by responses their followers gave to the question: “tell me the wildest thing that’s ever happened to you in Bali.”

From walking out of a place called “DJ cafe” at noon (presumably after partying all night/all morning) to a guest “getting murdered at a villa I manage” responders to The Canggu Pole’s question had a frightening variety of answers.

Other answers included meeting someone with a personality in Canggu (apparently that’s a big flex right there), having “so much red Kratom I thought I was Batman” and “accompanying a tinder date buying shrooms at a street clothing store.”

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Further intriguing responses included: “waking up in a rice field” and “the whole thing with a French MMA fighter terrorising Canggu” (one which raises more questions than answers).

Another answer had something to do with someone getting chased by machetes. The notorious “shortcut” (by the looks of it a not so maintained road out of Canggu) also gets quite a few mentions. Other mentions include getting dengue fever, experiencing earthquakes, tsunamis, volcano eruptions, snake bites and “spaghetti with ketchup.”

Another claimed they “partied with Shapelle’s siblings” but didn’t accept their invite to dinner “for obvious reasons.”

Another said they once woke up with a tattoo on their cheek after a night out “getting too drunk at pretty poison.”

Another said: “I got roofied at Sky Garden, woke up in Mbargo bathroom, lost phone, wallet, friends car keys.” Another said they got stalked by a psychopath from LA who claimed they invented Facebook.

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This isn’t the first time tourists have shared their wild Bali experiences. Who could forget the time monkeys had sex on a guy’s head in Ubud monkey forest? Or the time a Quora user claimed they were once tripping so hard on mushrooms in Bali that they thought they had overtaken an impossibly giant truck on their motorbike (in a vision, in a dream, etc), only to realise the next day they had actually overtaken a truck with a small migratory whale inside (“we had ridden our bikes a mere meter away from a whale, in a truck, which was then driven into the ocean…”).

Another wild experience shared on Twitter, comes from a surfer who claims he was almost lost at sea, after being unable to paddle back through the cave at Uluwatu.

And then out of f*cking nowhere, while I’m 1+ mile from where I started, one of these little fishing boats cruises by.

The Balinese fisherman pluck me into their boat and take me for ~5 mins to a nearby beach where they tell me to hop off when we’re 200yds from shore. pic.twitter.com/fhybIZesb8

— Brian Nichols (@b_nicks11) May 21, 2021

Not to mention the story of the woman whose husband almost accidentally tried to drag race a cop on a motorbike, which she shared on TikTok.

Finally, there’s Bonny Rebecca, a Youtuber who talks about coming off her biker on the beautiful island of Nusa Penida, after riding over a slippery patch, and being sent flying into the mud.

“The best way to describe it was as if someone ran over the road with a jackhammer, and left it for a hundred years,” she reportedly told followers.

Consider yourself warned…

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