Insider Life: Space tourism - Retire in France - Subway's billionaire owners

Happy Friday, folks! In this week's edition of Insider Life, we're delivering our top stories spanning travel, real estate, style, and more. We'll be going over vacations to outer space, the best retirement destinations, and a luxury shopping experience in Paris.

Let's get to it.

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For three years, until his "departure" in January, Simon McLaren served as the director of communications for Blade, the Uber for helicopters and chartered jets. There's only one problem: Simon McLaren never existed.

Blade had invented a fake spokesperson - and everyone bought it.

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A swanky New York City restaurant may have discovered the secret to better tips: a glass of rosé before work. Keith McNally, the famed restaurateur behind Pastis, Minetta Tavern, and Balthazar, said he let staff have a glass of wine before their shifts - and found tips went up 5%.

More on his wine-drinking experiment here.

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Sorry, homebuyers, but every house for sale right now kind of sucks. With fixer-uppers getting more expensive and single-family homes virtually nonexistent, the houses on the market are, erm, a little less than perfect.

Here are the challenges you can expect with every type of house right now.

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Forget earthbound vacations - the next big thing is space tourism. Over the next decade, taking short trips to space, including in giant balloon flights or orbital hotels, will likely become a standard form of tourism (for people with around six figures of disposable income, anyway).

Check out four companies leading the charge in space vacations.

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No one knows the allure of "Gossip Girl" as well as Andrew Warren, the 28-year-old "Kris Jenner" of New York high society. Warren, who's built a career inspired by the teen drama, is now helping brands and the socialite-influencer set through his lifestyle agency, CollXab.

Meet Warren here.

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Dreaming of living in France one day? Financial planner Brian Dunhill suggests retiring there - and not just because of its culture, food, or beauty. From a financial perspective, retiring to France gives expats one of the best double taxation agreements that any country has.

He explains what makes it an ideal destination.

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LVMH - a luxury conglomerate that owns brands including Louis Vuitton and Givenchy - spent $895 million and seven years refurbishing a Parisian department store, transforming it into a luxury shopping destination. This week, it opened its doors to the public after being painstakingly restored.

Take a look inside.

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Subway is the largest restaurant chain in the world. Yet, few outside the industry realize that only two individual owners - not a private equity firm or a suite of shareholders - are calling the shots.

Inside the two secretive billionaire families that own Subway.

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Plus...

• Cristiano Ronaldo owns a $25 million private jet with a - wait for it - fax machine on board. See photos of his jet.
• Amazon isn't alone in reportedly destroying unsold goods. Nike, Burberry, H&M and others have all been accused of doing the same. More on that here.
• Some luxury hotels are working to make LGBTQ+-friendly amenities and services more mainstream. Here's what they're doing.
• Chefs share their best tricks for making 16 foods everyone should know how to cook, from grilled cheese to chocolate chip cookies. Check out their tips.

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You're invited: Join us Tuesday at 12 p.m ET for a virtual event presented by PwC, spotlighting the biggest trends CEOs will focus on in the next 12 months. Register here.