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 Ever wanted to stay in a medieval castle or a converted monastery, enjoy the sea-breeze from your balcony or simply relax among mountain meadows and forests? Michelin's CHARMING HOTELS AND INNS features 500 addresses from around Germany, all with a certain special something, and most of which offer double rooms for 100 euros or less. | Tourism and Gastronomy 2006 FIFA World Cup: tickets are hard to come by... The life of a football fan is far from easy. Particularly if they have taken it into their head to attend the forthcoming World Cup, which will take place in Germany from 9th June to 9th July 2006. Problem: our spectator does not yet have a ticket, just over one month away from the event. What can they do?  Since February 2005 and the first sales phase, 1.12 million tickets have already been allocated (for 6 million orders at the end of the third phase in January 2006). There are two types of ticket: single tickets that are valid for just one match (no more than four per household) and the passes that make it possible to follow one team in particular. A supporter can thus apply for their national team's group stage matches and, depending on their degree of fanaticism and above all on their financial means, take an option on the round of 16, quarter finals and so on. Always on condition that their name is drawn...  On 15th April we entered the fifth sales phase. Code name: "last minute". Basically a catching-up session during which the last remaining tickets should be allocated. The number of these tickets remains unknown, since it will depend upon returns of tickets purchased by individuals and any tickets returned by the national federations of the 32 participating countries. In total, 3.2 million tickets were released and only one third (around 1.3 million) were intended for sale directly to the public.  So for our supporter, the possibilities seem to be limited. First method: try their luck in the lottery set up by the organisation committee, in agreement with the Federation of International Football Associations (FIFA). After connecting to the FIFA web site and providing proof of identity - not being on file as a known hooligan - they can choose the type of ticket they would like to purchase (between ¤35 and ¤120 for the first round and between ¤120 and ¤600 for the final). Then all they have to do is patiently await the draw, the date of which has not yet been set. If they are one of the lucky winners, they will be informed by e-mail telling them what to do next. So it's not easy to try to obtain the precious "open sesame", particularly since the competition is stiff and the last-minute supporters are also up against those who were unsuccessful in the previous phases. "It is undoubtedly the most complicated sales system ever set up," conceded Horst R. Schmidt, vice-president of the organising committee in charge of issuing tickets. But "it's also the fairest", he says by way of justification.
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