Paris Flashback Day 2

We woke bright and early on Day 2 to try and make the most of the gorgeous weather and gorgeous city?  First stop was a trip to the patisserie up the road to stock up on sweet stuff for breakfast, so we could sit in front of the window and eat while we were looking at the Tower. 

Terrible picture... That's an eclair, but you get the drift?! Pretty view. 

After we had eaten more confectionary than two human beings should eat, we headed off to explore further.  I've got to say we should have been at Disneyland Paris at this point, we had free tickets from Sky and that was what inspired the whole Paris trip in the first place, but there were so many things I wanted to see in the city that we decided to pass on Disney. Sorry Mickey! 

We headed over to Les Invalides, an army museum, to admire the rows of blue cannons outside and the huge metal gates.  We gave going in to the museum a miss, it's not really our thing, but the building itself was impressive enough to make it worth a visit. 

We carried on walking along the Seine, until we found ourselves back at Notre Dame.  It was nice to see the amazing architecture in a different light.  The exterior was so impressive that we decided to queue up (about 10 minutes) to go inside and look around.  No pictures - sorry! - but trust me, it was beautiful inside.  

It took a little while for my eyes to adapt to the bright sunshine again when we stepped back out!

Once I'd regained vision we carried on our stroll along the river and came across a guilded, sparkling bridge.

Closer inspection showed that it was actually covered in padlocks, with declarations of love engraved on them, aka a 'love lock'.

I didn't have a clue this existed and I was gutted not to have anything to leave (there were vendors selling padlocks on the river banks but at 15EUR each for something we could get for £2 at Wilkos we decided to pass!) but I will definitely be taking one with me when we go back. 

We started heading back to the apartment via Champs Élysées when Hubs directed me towards Avenue George V and straight in to Balenciaga!  He knew I'd had my eye on a 'Town' bag for a while and has been saving up.  Well, we had a wedding anniversary coming up in a few weeks so he put in the extra money I needed and I walked out of there with my very first Bal bag! 

Of course, my new bag had to come out for dinner with us that evening.  Turns out, it matched perfectly with a kimono-style top I'd packed. The colour is Rose Thulian, sorry for the bad lighting!

We headed over to explore the more arty section of the city and chose a lovely little restaurant where we could sit outside and people watch.  The bartender was great fun, chatting to us about our trip, where we were from... He even managed to persuade me to do something I never though I would: I ate snails!

All caught on camera by darling Hubs!! And yip, more Lipton Ice Tea in the background.

If you're wondering, the snails were gorgeous!  They really just tasted like garlic mushrooms.  I would definitely eat them again.  I've got frogs legs on my list of things to try next time! 

A couple of glasses of wine and a wander back to the apartment to watch the light show again and day 2 was over. 

What's the strangest thing you've ever eaten, that you never thought you would?  What would you write on your love lock?  Drop me a comment and let me know! 

Day 3 will be up on the blog soon.

Thanks for reading.

Aimee x

Paris Flashback - Day 1

In 2012 we went to Paris.  I am one of those old romantics who has dreamed about Paris forever and it was on my list of 'ultimate' places to visit. I know 2012 was ages ago and there's no point in living in the past but I love Paris and I want to talk about it, so I'm going to.  Warning: There's about to be a lot of pictures.  

We travelled with 2 friends (another couple - J&A) and went for 3 days.  We got great timed flights (thanks Ryanair!) so we got in to Paris at around 10am on Day 1.  J&A had already arranged to stay in a hotel in the business district but we wanted somewhere a little more central, so rented an apartment through airbnb.  It was the first time we'd ever tried this out, so we were a bit apprehensive, but our apartment was perfect (we had such a good experience with airbnb that we've been on 3 holidays since where we've used this site for apartments and every one has been perfect - highly recommended!).  We were right in the centre of Paris and the view out of the window was stunning.  

Eeeeee! The Eiffel Tower!!  You know the scene in Sex and the City S6, where Carrie goes to Paris with Petrovsky and screams when she sees the Tower for the first time? Yip, I did that too and I'm not ashamed of it! To say I was excited is a little bit of an understatement. 

After dumping our bags in the apartment we headed out to explore and made a beeline to get a closer look at the Tower, as we were only a 10 minute walk away.  The weather was absolutely stunning and we had glorious sunshine every day we were there.  This was slightly unexpected at the beginning of September, but definitely welcome. 

Lipton Ice Tea pops up in a lot of my travel pictures... For some reason, it becomes my drink of choice in Europe but I'm not as keen on it in the UK.  Maybe it's a different formula or something... Anyway, if you continue reading my little blog (big thank yous if you do!) then this is not the only picture it will be featured in. 

We sat in the park people-watching while we ate a soft, fresh baguette from a local boulangerie and then headed over to Champs Élysées to take a look at the shops. 

Up until this point Paris had seemed very quiet, we'd practically had the park to ourselves, but when we reached the Arc de Triomph we found the tourists!  It was so busy and the fact that it's in the middle of a main road made it difficult to get a good view.  We snapped a couple of photos but then gave up on fighting for space.

I have to confess, being a Vuitton girl at heart, I made a beeline for the flagship store.  We didn't get any attention from the SAs there, which was a little frustrating, but the store was filled with so many people 'just looking' that it would have been impossible for them to know who was actually wanting to make a purchase.  There were a few other Vuitton stores around Paris that were much quieter and the SAs there were much more attentive.

Second SATC reference in this post but I also dragged Hubs to see the Dior store that Carrie fell over in... (Hi, my name is Aimee and I'm a SATC addict...).  This store was slightly off Champs Élysées so was, again, much quieter and the SAs were lovely. 

We passed by Place de Concorde, then headed to Place Vendome to see the Ritz.  I should have done my research before we went as it is actually closed for refurbishment for two years!  I was hoping to go for afternoon tea there during our visit, but obviously this didn't happen.  At least I can use it as an excuse to go back again! 

One of the great things about Paris is that everything is within walking distance (if you're wearing comfortable shoes!) and a lot of the main sights are quite close together, so it felt like we'd achieved a lot in our first day!  We headed back to the apartment to reset before heading over to the Gothic Quarter to meet J&A for tea.  

Given the amount of walking we'd done through the day we got the Metro across and our stop was just up the road from Notre Dame and we got our first glimpse.  Didn't see the Hunchback though! 

We found a lovely little restaurant not too far away and sat outside to eat.  Unfortunately, I can't remember the name of the restaurant, but there were lots of lovely eateries in this area, so it wasn't difficult to find something tasty. I had a lovely tomato pasta dish and even managed to fit a cheeky crepe in too! 

We decided to saunter back to our apartment to work off some calories and enjoy Paris by night but we'd underestimated just how far away our apartment actually was and ended up jumping on the Metro half way back!  

We got 'home' just in time to make a cup of tea and sit in the window and watch the light show. 

It was the perfect end to a perfect first day in Paris. 

Have you ever been to Paris?  Did it live up to your expectations?? I'd love to hear your thoughts. 

Paris Day 2 and Day 3 will be on the blog soon, so don't forget to drop by again! 

Aimee x

Cameron House, Loch Lomond

So, as I said in my last post the second half of my long weekend went a little bit better than the first half! 

We spent the night in Cameron House, a 5* hotel on the banks of Loch Lomond that is part of the De Vere Hotel chain. 

I have stopped in De Vere hotels and  De Vere lodges  a number of times and have never had a bad experience but this was my first time at Cameron House.  It didn't disappoint! 

I forgot to take a photograph of the outside of the building!
Credit for this photo goes to www.rciventures.com.

There's nothing better than walking into a hotel room and seeing a plate of sweets and a 'welcome' note to make you feel instantly at home. 

Our room was one of the most basic 'standard' rooms, but felt ridiculously sumptuous (even more so following the sleepless night I'd had the night before!) and the bed was so comfortable I found myself having a nap about 10 minutes after I'd got in to the room. 

We were supposed to have a garden view, but got a Loch view instead - this was definitely a happy mistake!  Even on a rainy, grey day the view was stunning. 

There's a strange feeling in Cameron House - it's a huge building, but the traditional decor and subdued lighting make it feel homely and cosy.  You could almost think you were staying in a boutique city hotel, rather than a country house!  I really liked this feel to it. 

A quick outfit shot in one of the long corridors - this is what was
hiding under the big fur coat in my boat picture! 

On this visit, we didn't eat in the hotel restaurant and popped to Balloch instead, a little town that is only a 10 minute drive up the road. 

We found a gorgeous restaurant called The Kilted Skirlie in the Loch Lomond Shores shopping centre and had a 'private dining' experience due to the fact that there was only our party in there!  Apparently, this is not a common occurrence and the weather was putting other patrons (who aren't as used to the wind and rain as we are!) off.

The food was gorgeous.  I opted for a goats cheese tart for starters and sea bass and seasonal roast vegetables for my main. 

Bonus points for the fact we were given
Christmas Crackers! 

The fish was cooked to perfection - the portion was huge, but it was so good I couldn't bring myself to leave any.  This meant I didn't have any room for a pudding, but Hubs had a Knickerbockerglory that I managed to steal a few spoonfuls of and I can confirm that it was absolutely delicious! 

The next day Hubs was playing golf at the Carrick Golf Course (part of the Cameron House set up, but about 15 minutes away from the main hotel) so after a gorgeous breakfast in the hotel I spent some time mooching around the shops in Balloch, wandering around the hotel grounds and drinking hot chocolate in The Claret Jug clubhouse.

There's a Spa based at the Carrick too, which is perfect for killing an hour or so while you're waiting for the golf to finish.  Timings weren't in my favour this time round (my fault - I forgot to book anything!) but it is well worth a visit and they often have brilliant special offers on, so you can have a complete pamper for a fraction of the price. 

I left Cameron House feeling completely relaxed, even though it was a flying visit and it's left me completely looking forward to spending Christmas Week at another De Vere Hotel - Slaley Hall in Hexham.  We'll be in a lodge this time round, so it's a completely different experience. 

What did you get up to last weekend?  Are you getting as fed up of the rainy and windy weather as I am?

I can't believe it's Hump Day already - this week is going way too fast!  

x

PS.  I just wanted to say that all views in this post are my own and I've not been asked by either of the companies mentioned to provide any reviews, I just genuinely think they are lovely places and thought they deserved some good words!