Dancing on Port St. Bernard, Paris

Since Luke and I have been to Paris before and we both have been to all the tourist spots, I made sure that this trip will be as culturally filled as possible.  When I googled Paris festivals, I got excited as they were so many during the summer.  All I needed to do was to choose which one will suit us and which one would be exciting for us to do.

I have always pictured dancing beside the River Seine to be very romantic.  I expected slow dance with champagne in hand but it turns out, it was salsa night!  Everyone had their salsa hips on which intimidated the both of us.  Even normal looking guys can dance!  In the end, Luke and I watched people move their salsa hips and left.  That same night, Luke and I made a pact to enrol to Salsa class once we were back in England.  We need a bit of social dancing in our lives!

The walk back from Port St. Bernard at night time is amazing.  There were so many buskers.  Near Notre Dame, we stumble upon a group of Jazz singers.  The voice of the man was so authentic I felt like I was back in the prohibition era.  Yes, I went that far.  :P  I would love to live in Paris in the future.  I love the whole Paris vibe.  

The same night, Luke and I explored the Latin Quarters towards St. Germain.  The area is filled with cafes, restaurants and pubs.  I love the laid back style.  I hate the rip off drinks price after happy hour.  A little flute of champers is 10 Euros.  People watching is amazing in this area too.  Too many bearded, slim and tall guys.  Total feast for my eyes!!! 

Notre Dame Hotel, Paris

Luke and I turned 1.  This is the main reason why we went for another holiday.  1 year, paper anniversary.  Luke paid for accommodation and I paid for I can't remember now.  :-P  As it was our paper anniversary, I gave Luke a love letter that he didn't expect inside a Prada wallet.  I do like to splurge on my non-designer(with his shoes as an exception) wearing husband.  

I have never noticed this before but French people are terrible with their customer service.  Luke rang the boutique hotel before we left Rouen to ask for parking directions.  Originally when he rang, he was told that the daily rate was 17 Euros, that morning, he was informed that it was 24 per day and when we arrived, it was 35 Euros.  When we asked the lady in the reception where to park with cheaper rates, she smirk and told us that it is the same everywhere without giving us ideas where to park.  I don't expect that customer service especially if we have to pay £150 a night.  The following day, it rained, we asked for umbrella and we were told, no we don't have any left.  I expect people to at least pretend and look but nothing.  I am still annoyed thinking about this.

Stay at this hotel if you want to be centrally located.  The view is amazing, I can't deny that.  Walking at River Seine is lovely at night time too.  Notre Dame is less than 5 minutes walk, Parthenon is less than 10 minutes and 15 for Jardin du Luxembourg.  The love lock bridge for lovers is less than 5 minutes walk and for the undying love, it can be 30 minutes walk or 3 train stops away.  For 150 a night, you pay for a compact room without fridge, just telly, shower without bath with shampoo/soap and lotion toiletries.  Breakfast is not even included.  Stay away if you want peace and quiet.  You can't get that in Latin quarters.  During our stay, we here sirens go every night and traffic.  Double glazing can't do anything with the traffic noise.  Lucky for me, I am used to it.  

And oh, if you like being connected in the WWW, stay away from this place.  The wi-fi is horrendous!  It goes off every 10 minutes.  

Double bed.  This is the actual width of the room.  

This photo was taken from our room.  This is what 150 a night is for.  That and the Christian Lacroix designed rooms.

Giverny - Paris

If there is one thing I love about road trips, it is the fact that we were not time bound.  You can wake up any time you please (apart from when there is free breakfast which is usually until 11AM) and you can leave whenever, until check out time of course.  :)

Rouen was nice but it is good for a day or two.  I am a big city girl and my body craves for traffic, noise and overpopulation.  I am weird that way.  I haven't appreciated solidarity yet.  I am still young, I have loads of time for that in the future.  :-P

Giverny is an hour and a half away from Rouen and an hour an a bit to Paris.  It is famous for being Monet's town.  Yup, Claude Monet the French impressionist.  It was his garden and pond that inspired most of his paintings.  For weeks, we went back and forth discussing between driving and taking the Eurostar and decided that it would be fun driving plus Luke bought Z4 this year and Euro road trip is the only reason why I am letting him keep that car.  *evil stare*

Few things you should know about Monet House and Garden:

1.  It is not free.   The house and garden is 9.50 Euros and with the museum visit, it is about 19 Euros.  We only went to the garden and house as I've been to bigger museums before and I've seen Monet's work.  Living in Europe has its perks.  British museums are the best!  Most of them are free unless they have a private exhibition.

2.  Parking is free.  Hurray!

3.  Food in the area is expensive.  We may own a Z4 but we are very reasonable with spendings.  To give you an idea, a small beer is 6 Euros.

4.  You can book in advance online.  Alternatively, arrive early as there is queueing.  Monet house and gardens and the museum is the only attraction in the area.  

Inspired by this painting

Water Lily Pond and Weeping Willow

You get the idea.  :)  The place is very very scenic.  I can see why Monet was inspired.  What's surprising about this trip were the paintings on his house.  They were all from Japanese era.

Find me!!!

 I can easily blend in in the garden!

Floral top and floral skirt FTW!

Although I slept so much the previous night, I slept throughout the drive to Paris.  I only woke up near Le Defense.  I recognise the area as we stayed there the first time we visited France.  :)

Rouen - Paris

When I was younger, I dreamt of travelling America on a convertible or VW Combi.  In my early 20s, my dream was changed to driving in a convertible to Europe.  Now that I've done it, it wasn't much of a fun for me.  1.  There is the hair situation when your hair can't stay perfect no matter how much you style it.  2.  I get motion sickness which leads me to sleeping on the car most of the time.   3.  I can't drive yet.  I really need to sort my license out.

I have been to Paris twice before.  Both times with my mum and my sister.  We have covered mostly all the famous spots in Paris so this trip didn't need much planning for me.  I can just eat, relax and enjoy the scenery.  I can't tell you if the drive to Rouen was scenic.  All I can remember was the long motorways then I woke up and bam!  We were in Rouen. :-P

Rouen doesn't feel like Paris at all.  It feels more like a small English town with loads of Gothic Churches, tea places, cafes and restaurants, high street and designers boutiques (Hermes to name one) and timber incorporated houses.  In the UK we call them Tudor houses as they were made in the Tudor era but in Rouen, it feels like it was incorporated into the design of the house.  

When we first arrived in Rouen, my first thought was, where can we park?  The roads in the city centre is small, usually single lane in residential area.  The traffic system is weird.  They have go for both cars and people BUT only go for cars if there are no pedestrian passing.  We almost had an accident on our first hour which scares the hell out of me.  When we finally found the parking and the boutique hotel, we did our usual, slept and rest for hours and got up in time to explore the town.

I've got only 5 things to see in this trip.  I'm quite lenient since I know I am here to stay for good in Europe. :P  Here they are:

1.  Church of Joan d'Arc

Very interesting architecture, in the shape of the dragon.  This is the actual site where Joan of Arc was burnt.

2.  Rue de Gros Horloge

3.  Rue St. Romain

Where all the good tea places are and everything shabby chic in my eyes are.  :P  

4.  Cathedral de Notre Dame light show

This is free and not to be missed.  Our show started at dusk.  We sat right in the middle with wide lens angle and got these amazing photos.  If you miss the first few minutes of the show, don't despair.  They played it back to back.  

5.  Les Jardin Du Sculpteur Jean-Marc de Pas

The last one didn't happen though as we intended to go Giverny instead.

In Rouen, all you need is a good camera, good shoes for walking and basic French to survive.  I don't have basic French skills but my husband does.  Thank God!  He is specially good with asking for directions.  

La Boulangerie, Rouen

La Boulangerie is a boutique accommodation, located in a quiet residential area of Rouen.  It is a few minutes walk from the city centre so you are still centrally located, minus the town centre noise.

When we first arrived at the accommodation, I was quite annoyed that the place seemed closed.  Only on closer inspection that I found a note instructing us to ring house #7 if there is noone in the Boulangerie.  

Our room was spacious and quirky.  Our bath is right across our bed with separate small room for the loo.  The bed is comfortable and clean.  No telly but an ipod dock is provided.  Ideal if you love peace and quiet.  No lifts, just stairs but Aminata was very helpful.  She insisted on carrying our luggage although we can carry it ourselves.  

TIP:  Don't miss the breakast.  Try her jam especially the orange with almond.

NOT FOR:  People who have difficulty walking.  The stairs are quite steep.

PRICE:  Very good for the service that you get.  Mind you, French people are not well known for their customer service.

Greece: Eva Grecotel Palace, Corfu

I love travelling as much as I love fashion.  Thank God, I can do both.  I am working in fashion and my work allows me to pay for my travelling(having a hard working husband helps too.  :) )

I have few options when it comes to travelling.  I don't like the hassle of sorting out visa so I go for less or no visa requirements at all.  Being married to an British helps a lot.  I have less requirements as someone with the same passport as I.

I expected nothing but relaxation on this trip.  I chose according to price and "look" of the hotel and went to trip advisor for reviews.   Luckily, I picked one of the bests.  I am known to be malas or unlucky in making decisions whilst on tour.  It made Luke ill more than once when I chose restaurants.  I have to live by my decisions everyday.  Durian shake.

Location:

The hotel is located in the secluded area, very quiet at night time apart from the nightly entertainments.  The downside is, there are only few restaurants around.  I've only seen 3.  Luke and I went on Bed and Breakfast.  Big mistake.  If you stay in Eva Grecotel, I suggest going for the full board or renting a car.  The latter is the better decision though.  Corfu is a great island for exploring.

Room:

We had to wait for our room to become available.  To be fair, we arrived 2 hours before the check-in time.  As courtesy, we receive a room upgrade.  It supposed to have a view but the only view that we have is the lemon tree.  Not that I am complaining but we were near all the amenities in the bungalow.  We had the bar less than 5 minutes from us and so is the beach and pool.  

The room had 4 poster bed, bath with shower and his & her sink.  I love the idea of his and her sink.  Usually, I had to share with Luke on holiday and I didn't have to this time.  We can brush our teeth without getting into each others way.  Little luxury but made so much difference.  

Our room was tidied daily whilst we were away.  If I have a little complain, it's the lack of replenishment for toiletries.  I didn't have to ask on some hotels that I stayed in the past so I expected to get the same treatment in a 5 star hotel.

View:

One thing you can't deny about this place is the amazing view.  You get it almost everywhere!  Almost, cause we didn't have any views in our room.  :P  It is amazing how the view can change the mood of your holiday.  In our 6 days, we had 4 days overcast and 2 days of amazing sunshine but the overcast didn't spoil the holiday.  I remember saying to Luke that the place redeeming factor in a dark cloudy day is their view.  He agreed.

Panorama view taken from the hotel bar.

Corfu Day 6 - long winding road

Time flies when you're having fun.  Cliché, but true.  

Nakakabitin magbakasyon!  When you think you are having fun, it is time to go home.  :(  Few places we discovered before we went back to England.  Stumbling to these locations was pure luck.  Thank God for adventurous husband!  :)

1.  Paleokastritsa 

I have to say, the photos don't do justice to how stunning the place is.  When we went to Sidari, we were disappointed with the long drive and the state of the the area.  We were thankful that we booked in Kommeno bay where it feels exclusive and "clean".  The short drive to Corfu town centre is a bonus too.  We can never live away from town.  At least I can't.  Paleokastritsa is an ideal place for relaxing but if we stayed there, we won't be forced to explore.  The beach, the monastery and the restaurants are within the walking distance.  There is a diving and snorkelling area too.  Just happy that we saw a different side of Corfu.

2.  Angelokastro /  Castle of the Angel(s)

Since we were feeling adventurous, we followed the sign to Angelokastro not realising how far it was.  The drive was scenic and also, very long.  The rule is to just carry on.  When you think you reached a cul-de-sac, an open road magically appears.  

Luke and I didn't go to the Castle per se.  We haven't got the strength to walk, mostly out of laziness.  He was probably tired of driving too.  We stopped when we saw the castle from a far.  We found a couple who did the same.  They asked if we wanted a photo of us and we reciprocated their offer.  Being in a couples holiday is amazing but having photos together is proving to be difficult.  Luke hates bothering people and I hate asking for favour.  Together, we're doomed.  :-P  From Angelokastro, we went back to the hotel and slept in the pool side since we already checked out.  By 6ish, we left for town centre for dinner then headed to the airport.  We were knackered.  Full day without a hotel to go back to is a bad idea.  Will I do it again?  Of course!  You get your money's worth for the full day.