A lifestyle blog
We love exploring, either close to home on an afternoon out, slightly further afield on a weekend away, or to a far flung destination picked because it happened to be on page 83 of the travel guide and we were asked to pick a number between 1 and 230.
Window Wednesday today comes from Collioure, a sleep seaside village in France that feels like it’s a big secret. Except it turns out it isnt in our family! I might be 48 this year but when my parents tell me I have to do something, well, I do it. Over lunch earlier this month they asked about our upcoming trip to France as it is a country they know
Chez Bebelle It’s easy to say that you have a new favourite restaurant. Or a place that you remember for all the wrong reasons. We had a shocking lunch just before we went to France, and equally today I have had quite possibly the best fish and chips I have ever had. At the time they are cemented in your mind as ones to remember, or avoid. In a
I knew nothing about this medieval village just down the road from Maison de la Roche, expect that we were told we had to visit because it was one of the most beautiful villages in France. An honour it holds along with 150 other villages who have been deemed Les Plus Beaux Villages de France (less than 2000 inhabitants, a rural character and at least two heritage sites are needed
Narbonne is another town in the south of France that is steeped in history. Full of gorgeous buildings, wide pavements and plane trees, the canal, coffee shops and little sun drenched squares. Sadly I sort of glossed over all of that on our recent trip because, well two words: “food” and “hall”. The Halles de Narbonne had been recommended to us as a must do on our trip to Narbonne, with
Carcassonne Every time we got close to anything vaguely resembling a bridge in this town I turned to Mr B and started singing “Sur le pont, Carcasonne” last week. Yes, I know it should be Avignon but where is the fun in that when you are in Carcassonne and not Avignon. I did the same on the way through Perpignan too Oh and in Narbonne It didn’t work with Lagrasse but that didn’t
There isn’t a sign announcing Maison de la Roche but the directions say “if you get to the bins, you have gone too far, the wooden gates are just before it”. Wooden gates that simply say “27” on the Rue de Carcasonne in the pretty Languedoc village of Ferrals de Corbieres. Not wishing to knock on the wrong gates I jumped out of our hire car (picked up
On Saturday it felt like London was doing its best to show the world that nothing will ever stop it being the magnificent city that it is. The sky couldn’t have been any bluer, the blossom any more beautiful and the general vibe of the place was that this great city carries on. Respectfully mindful of recent events, but that nothing has changed. So it felt like
It’s not everyday you get to say you are going away for the weekend, to stay at a Castle. But last weekend we got to do just that. Last year Warwick Castle opened their Knights Village. A glorious collection of wooden lodges, set right on the banks of the River Avon, within the grounds of the Castle. I would say that a stay there is an
We recently spent the weekend in Warwick, so here is Window Wednesday featuring Warwick Castle Savages. Despite our favourite family saying being (in the most pompous voice we can muster) “We aren’t savages” we were. Well our ancestors certainly were. And despite all the history and majesty of Warwick Castle that is the one over-riding feeling I come away with. Horrible Histories is not wrong. A moat
Sometimes I think I want to be buried, and other times I think I want to be cremated. I suppose I need to make my mind up really or my family will have no idea what to do after my demise and if they get it wrong (through no fault of their own) it is highly likely I will come back and haunt them forever. I pondered this
Selborne is a sleepy village near Farnham in Surrey and features on Window Wednesday this week We have seen the signs to Gilbert White’s house so many times that we thought it might be worth a trip to finally see it. That and we only had a couple of hours to spare on Sunday morning to go out and take photos. But then when we got to Selborne it
Probably the oldest window to ever feature on Window Wednesday this week, Waverley Abbey near Farnham Oh how I wanted to rename that Waverley Wabbey. Child that I am. Anyway. Yes. Waverley Abbey is another little find that is just up the road from us. We attempted to find it last year but realised, it being ruins and all, that it was along a footpath from the car park.