Category: France

Paris with a baby

Adventures in Paris With a Baby: Evie’s First Trip

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Having had some serious travel withdrawals due to not being away since September, I was desperate for a break as soon as our little adventurer arrived. Plus I think it was well deserved after, ya know, pushing a tiny human out!

For our very first trip with our little adventurer we wanted somewhere that wasn’t too far away which was easy to get to, and so Paris seemed like the perfect choice. Despite it being so close to London we hadn’t been in 12 years and it’s somewhere I had been wanting to return to for such a long time. The bonus of taking the Eurostar over flying sealed the deal, so we took the plunge and booked our first trip for when Evie was just 9 weeks old.

So many people had told us this is the easiest time to travel with a baby, when they’re tiny and can’t walk around yet and don’t do much apart from eat and sleep, and they were totally right. But a lot of people had also said that Paris is not a good place to go with a baby and hopefully this post will prove that I don’t agree with these people at all! Paris is a great idea with a baby!

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A weekend in Le Havre

A Weekend Discovering Le Havre: Part 2

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As I promised in my post last week all about our weekend discovering Le Havre, here is our second day exploring this lovely city on the coastline of France, just a short ferry ride from Portsmouth.  Not quite as hectic as the first day, today was spent wandering around the city and, best of all, sampling lots more delicious French food.

Despite all the wine the previous night, we were up bright and early in the morning for a stroll along the harbour just outside our hotel.  And what a glorious morning it was.  Even though it was winter, the skies were bright blue and the sun shone down on us as we got ready for a new day of adventures.

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Le Havre France

A Weekend Discovering Le Havre

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Shortly before Christmas Mr Ayla and I set off for a weekend of discovery in Le Havre, along with Brittany Ferries, Le Havre Tourisme and a group of other keen adventurers.  Only a short ferry ride from Portsmouth (or a slightly longer ferry ride with a cosy little cabin to nap in), Le Havre was somewhere that I had admittedly never heard of.  I was expecting a small French town with not a massive amount to do and, extremely unusual for me, I hadn’t done a single bit of research before we left.  For once I was happy to let someone else do all the planning and Le Havre Tourisme had a fantastic weekend ahead organised for us.

Over the course of the 48 hours we spent in Le Havre, we had an itinerary packed full of sightseeing and adventures.  The quiet little French town that I was expecting to visit was nowhere in sight.  Instead, I was surprised to find a city rich in history, teeming with beautiful architecture, a mouth-watering cuisine and only a stone’s throw from the Normandy countryside.

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Hiking in the Cinque Terre

My Favourite Travel Memories from 2015

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As 2015 comes to an end and we look back on a year of fabulous adventures, and onto 2016 which will hopefully be filled with many more, I know you’re already thinking “oh no, not another New Year round up post!”.  So okay, I may be doing a total cliche here but I figured that this year has been a pretty awesome one so I simply couldn’t resist.  Plus, Mr Ayla is adamantly refusing to go on as many trips next year (oops my finger must have accidently slipped and hit enter to book those flights!!) so all I can do is look back on some of my favourite memories from this year.

Despite having a full time job I’ve managed to squeeze in plenty of adventures, from long haul relaxing holidays to short city breaks closer to home; trips with both family and friends; sightseeing holidays, hiking trips, beach breaks and everything in between.  While we may not have anything planned for next year (yet) these are some of my favourite travel memories from 2015, and some of these places have very quickly worked their way to the top of my favourite ever destinations.

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5 Places I Dream of Returning To

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There isn’t a single place in the world I’ve been to that I haven’t loved in one way or another, and every time I leave a place I almost always tell myself that I’ll make it back there one day.  But with so many incredible places to see in the world, I usually try go somewhere new, as I love to explore other countries, learn about different cultures and try new things.  I get caught up in new places and ticking things off my bucket list but, while the places that I’ve already visited and loved so dearly turn into a distant memory, they are never forgotten.

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