Do: Afternoon stroll

While much of mine and D’s holiday was spent lounging around in the sunshine and eating plates of wonderful food, we did fit in a couple of lovely walks along the lanes close to his mum’s house

It’s easy to give in to laziness on holiday, but a good walk in beautiful surroundings does a lot of good for the soul… and for India the dog!

As the men walked on, D’s mum and I stopped to pick blackberries from the hedgerows…

And I managed to entangle myself in the thorny branches – the more I struggled, the more my jumper fused with plant!

But after a few panicked minutes, I freed myself and we walked down into the little hamlet where D’s mum and her husband married, passing a field of tobacco plants en route…

And then back up the hill on our return trip – I love how their neighbour’s house looks just as you’d expect a French rural house would look, complete with laundry on the line…

By the time we got back we felt refreshed, revitalised, and ready to sit back down with a good book before a four course dinner!

Photo an hour: Dimanche

I’ve just returned from a lovely holiday in France, staying with D’s mum and her husband

On the Sunday I thought I’d attempt another photo an hour (the the first one here)

It didn’t quite work to plan (I lose track of time when not at work!) but I thought I’d share the photos anyway… with estimated timings… and a little more than one photo in some hours…

8.30am

Wake up, look out of bedroom window to see some people have been up (literally) for a little while longer!

9.15am

A lovely breakfast with D’s mum’s delicious homemade jams – apricot with cinnamon, and a thick plum jam with nuts and pepper – yum!

10.30am

We head off to St Cyprian and stroll around the colourful market – where I buy some amazing sugarless nougat as a gift for my parents and try on hats

You’ll already know how much I love French markets if you read my post last year – so much wonderful, fresh produce!

11am

We stroll uphill, through the narrow streets to the church – and hear Sunday worshippers singing as we stood outside

After strolling back into the centre ville, we had a quick rest in the sunshine before meeting D’s mum for a coffee

12pm

Coffee drunk and a decision made on which hat to buy, we head back to the car…

And on the way bumped into a friend of D’s mum, who was carrying a beautiful bunch of flowers

12.15pm

By the early afternoon the sun is out in force, and more than warm enough for us to have the roof down on the drive back to the house

1.30pm

A Sunday lunch of croissants and strawberries in the sunshine!

2pm… 3pm… 4pm… etc…

And now onto the serious business of reading by the pool all afternoon!

We hadn’t packed our swim suits as we hadn’t expected such amazing weather (up to 31c!) – although swimming in an unheated pool would still have been pretty brave

6pm

We head inside to cool off a little before dinner and I spot the sun shining through the kitchen window and onto the fruit bowl

7.30pm

We enjoy dinner outside – starting with some of the Turkish bread bought at the market

8pm onwards…

We watch the sun disappear over the horizon as we eat dinner, drink wine and chatter away

Have you been away recently? Managed to catch any final summer sun?

Q&A: Wanderlust with B

I love a good questionnaire – it’s one of my many geeky passions, filling out forms. So when I saw Janet’s wanderlust post, I couldn’t resist having a go myself.

Especially when I started clicking back through the chain of bloggers who had also posted it…

Janet saw it on Distract Me Now Please, who saw it on Little Miss Busy, who saw it on Beauty Expression, who saw it on Kisses and Croissants, and so on, and so on!

Isn’t the internet a HUGE place?!

1. Which airport would you like to never see again?
I’ve not so far had a bad experience at an airport…

2. What is your travel nightmare? 
I think if everything went wrong at once – that we were ill, we’d lost all our money and possessions, were stuck in a tropical storm and kidnapped by pirates… that would definitely ruin a holiday

3. Would your rather stay in a fancy hotel and do fewer activities, or stay in a hostel and do more activities?
A tricky one! It would massively depend on the location (and the state of the hostel/hotel), but I definitely don’t mind staying in basic accommodation in order to spend more time exploring… I do like a private room though, even if it’s TINY like the hotel we stayed at in New York…

4. Do you have any pre-travel rituals?
Double checking I’ve not forgotten the essentials – passport, money, phone etc.

5. What is your favourite airline to fly with?
From my limited flying experience I’m going to say BA… which may also be as they’re the only long haul flights I’ve had, but the service was still very good

6. If you could take a trip anywhere in the world, where would you go?
There are so many places I’d love to see! Europe-wise, at the moment I’m particularly keen to visit Sweden, Switzerland and Austria – just because they always looks so beautiful and the lifestyles seem so healthy. If I could simply be transported in a click of the fingers (i.e. no massive flight) I’d like to visit my family in Australia, then stop by New Zealand too. Oh, and I want to see Vancouver! Okay, I’ll stop now…

7. How do you survive long haul flights?
I’ve flown from the UK to America and Canada before, so I’ve not entirely worked out how to chill out on planes – and certainly not how to sleep on them! It’s definitely a good idea to stay as hydrated as possible though and it’s worth investing in a decent pair of headphones that block out the noise of everyone else on the plane!

8. What is your favourite stamp in your passport and why?
Probably New York, as it’s the first one I got – I was so disappointed when I found out that European countries don’t bother to stop EU passports…

9. What are your top 3 necessary items for travel?
Clearly passport, money, travel itinerary are proper essentials, but for an enjoyable break…

• Foam ear plugs – amazing for sleeping on the plan, in hotels, on campsites…
• Cameras – definitely in the plural, although I do try to limit myself (or rather the size of my suitcase limits me)
• A notepad – although I sometimes moan about it during the holiday, it’s great to read back on what we did and all the little happenings we might’ve forgotten if I wasn’t keeping a diary. It’s also very useful for keeping on top of spending!

10. What’s your favourite holiday photograph of all time?
A very tough one, considering my love of snapping combined with my natural tendency towards indecision…

This one I love because it was such a perfect day on the Dordogne in France...

And this one from Quebec in Canada because, again, it reminds me of having such an amazing time (in quite different weather conditions)…

11. And I’m adding a sneaky last question – top 5 cities you’ve visited?

• Montreal, Canada
• Amsterdam, The Netherlands
• New York, USA
• Edinburgh, Scotland
• London, England (of course!)

I’d love to see your answers to the questions above! Let me know if you decide to do a post on your own blog…

Do: Canoe the Dordogne

My entire holiday in France was lovely, but loveliest of all was the day we hired a canoe to take along the Dordogne Being a little unsure of my canoeing skills and abilities to endure the midday heat, D (the boyfriend) sympathetically agreed we’d take the 7k (rather than 16k!) route Alighting our vessel at La Roque-Gageac we took a relaxed approach to the whole thing (me more than him!)… Stopping along the river for a coffee and to visit stop by a boulangerie for lunch… The route took us past several chateaux and with the glorious weather the whole area looked absolutely stunning And although it was super hot, that was soon sorted with a refreshing dip in the river – something I’d never done before (the River Soar doesn’t look quite so welcoming…) After dropping off the canoes at the agreed point, we were taken back to our start point in a bus with no air conditioning, but doors literally tied open…! So if you’re ever in that area, I can’t urge you enough to take to the water