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3 days in Paris
Visiting Paris with my husband and 2 children. As a travelling mum, you want happy children, because happy children mean happy parents. City breaks are tiring for grown ups let alone children, but the end result no matter what, was that we made lots of happy memories. It was very tiring, but all worth it. Also big mistake, I should have listened to the Hubby and booked only 2 days. I thought I was being clever and booked 3 days to make the most of the 3rd day as I had the great idea of booking the train back to london for 9pm. Paris, after living in England for 18…
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Trocadero
Day 1 – My 3 days in Paris This was my absloute favourite place. I could live in one of those apartments/flats there and watch the Eiffel Tower everyday and walk across the bridge in the late warm evenings. We bought some crepes There were lots of supercars, much to the delight of my son.
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Wall of Peace
Day 1 – My 3 days in Paris Whilst walking in the Parc du Champ de Mars, we stumbled a different yet impressive type monument which we had never even heard of. It was the Wall of peace – Peace in 32 languages and 13 alphabets. Interesting fact – It seems that the Wall of Peace has become the Wall of War, it was supposed to remain in place for 4 months, but 17 years later, it is still there despite disputes of it’s demolition. For more info, check out https://www.travelfranceonline.com/mur-de-la-paix-wall-peace-champ-de-mars/
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Parc du Champ de Mars
Day 1 – My 3 Days in Paris There was also a nice little market, with stalls of souvenirs, all kinds of craft and food. The smell was making us salivate, there was all sorts of varied food from different parts of the world.
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Metro Stations
Day 1- My 3 Days in Paris I made the mistake of telling my husband that the metro stations signs are in blue. They were in red. Oops. It did take us a while to spot the metro stations. My 11 year old son understands the transport system in London, and he found it easy to read the Paris metro map too. At first buying the tickets sounds complicated, but once I did it, it became easy. A day ticket is called Ticket Mobilis and it is much better to use them rather than the single use ticket unless you are planning to go to only one place and staying…
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Where to stay in Paris
Day 1- My 3 Days in Paris If you want to be within walking distance of Eiffel Tower, this is the place to be. It is about 7 minutes walk from the metro station Alma Maceau and about the same time to the Eiffel Tower. I had never stayed in a boutique hotel before, so this was a new experience. I always felt more comfortable with big chains of hotels and I knew what to expect from them. When I booked the hotel, I requested a top floor as the website I booked it from did not give me that choice. To my utter surprise we did indeed get the…
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Macaroons Heaven
Day 2 – My 3 Days in Paris Even before I set out for Paris, my thought was on macaroons. I had seen enough of photos of them all over the net, and surprisingly I had not even tried them yet. Having shown my son the photos too, all he wanted whilst walking through shops was to buy macaroons and I kept saying later. On the way back from Louvre Museum, we passed by a few shops selling souvenirs and macaroons. I am so glad I waited, as the shop I entered was heaven itself. The young pretty lady that helped us to choose which sweets to buy was beyond…
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All the cute things I wanted to buy
Day 3 – My 3 Days in Paris
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7 Coloured Earths
The 7 coloured earths is a place in Mauritius. As the name implies, it is a small area, made up of sand dunes, not any ordinary sand, but of 7 colours of sand. It is a natural phenomenon and surprisingly it does not erode despite torrential rain. As I mentioned before, I grew up in Mauritius and I remember hearing the rumour that there was some kind of treasure under the sand dunes, but if it was dug up, the beautiful place would be ruined. Another fascinating fact is that if a bit of the earth is mixed together, they will settle into different layers eventually. How fascinating? Now that…
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A bit of gardening
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Holiday in Mauritius – first few days in a cyclone
Note – A tropical cyclone, also called a typhoon or hurricane, is an intense circular storm that originates over warm tropical oceans. They are all the same, only different distinctive terms for a storm are used in different parts of the world. Hurricane is used in the central and Northeast Pacific, Atlantic and the Caribean sea while Typhoons are what they call it in the Northwest Pacific. A few months ago, I attended a big event in Mauritius, my brother’s long awaited wedding. Note – Mauritius is an island in the Indian Ocean, 1200 miles off the South East coast of the African continent. I brought back lots of good…
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4 days in Porto, Portugal
Porto, I have now made such good memories with you. I absolutely loved the city and I came home, after 4 days, with wonderful memories and I can honestly say that it was one of my most memorable trips ever. Ok, maybe I say that about all my holidays but Porto, you hold a special place in my heart. Check the links in red at the end of this to see the amazing street art. To recap, I went to Porto for a friend’s 40th Birthday. Prior to that, I have to honestly say that I had never heard of Porto before. Now all I talk about is Porto. When…
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Buildings in Porto
The buildings in Porto are certainly very colourful and do not lack character. Little alleys, washing on the line, very old buildings, tiled ones, they are all part of the charm of Porto.
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Art, grafitti, murals and lots of tiles in Porto
Porto is known for its tiled buildings, the blue tiles are all over the place. To begin, this is what the station looks like. I wished I had these kind of views everyday at my local train station. Sao Bento Station More around the town I wonder if I missed any of these quirky ones. Grafitti and other kinds of art
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Wine Cellars
I cannot recommend Port Wine Tasting enough. Having read all about the Douro Valley, and it’s magnificent landscape which I unfortunately did not get a chance to visit, I was at least happy that I got to taste Port wine, from grapes grown in the Douro Valley. I was really surprised at how cheap it was. I have never been to a wine tasting over here in England, but I assumed it was pricey. The wine cellars are found in Vila Da Gaia, on the other side of the town, and across the Luis Dom Bridge. I feel proud and at the same time silly to say that throughout the…
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Shoeburyness, Essex – A Sand & Shingle Beach
I love the sea. I love the blue water, the splashing waves that come crashing against my toes, the sea breeze, and most of all, I love sea shells. During a sunny weekend, I decided to go check out this beach, as it is about 1 hour away from my house. Now to go to a beach which is only 1 hour away is a good thing. I am always on the quest to find a nice sandy beach near me. So far the best one I have found is over 3 hours away, in the South of England. Shoeburyness Beach, also known as Shoebury Common is a sand and…
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Stonehenge, World Heritage Site
There is far more to Stonehenge than meets the eye. It seems to be a mere ring of stones, however, it is more or less a ring of mysteries. Thousand of years ago, an ancient civilisation, or was it aliens, raised a circle of huge rectangular stones in a field, which we now call, Stonehenge. It is one of the best known prehistoric monument in Europe and there are lots of theories surrounding its existence. I visited the place without any research into it and once there, I was curious and fascinated as to their origin and wanted answers. Lots of questions but no answers. Now I tremble slightly having…
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Enjoying my garden in the mini heatwave
I always feel like winter is dragging on forever but things are finally looking up, dare a say a few days of sunshine too is on the horizon. Well, England has seen yesterday it’s hottest April day in 70 years, the temperature being 29 deg. A mini heatwave this week to be followed by a rain and thunder next week. Needless to say, I have been in the garden since morning, topping up my Vitamin D and putting my washing out. I cannot sit still. I would sit for 5 minutes, enjoying the peace and sun and then I would run in to get my camera as I have seen…
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White Cliffs of Dover
Day 1 of my trip to France Since I had to take the train from Dover, I thought why not go one day early to Dover to visit the cliffs and stay overnight in a hotel to be on time to catch the early train the next day. That way I did not have to leave the house at 4 in the morning, since I live about 4 hours drive from Dover. I have always wanted to visit the cliffs of Dover which are the most famous symbol of the Chanel port in Kent. They form part of the English coastline facing the Straits of Dover and France. The cliffs…
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Road Trip to France
Trip to Disneyland Paris, France It was my first road trip to Europe, driving from Port of Dover in Uk to Port of Calais in France, and then heading to Paris, Disneyland. I now realise that it would have been maybe easier and less stressful to go by the Eurostar train from London to Paris and it stops right outside the Disney Village. Very convenient. This is something I learnt when I researched and booked my trip to Disneyland. To be honest I was not aware of the train that transports vehicles. I thought there were only 3 ways of getting to France from Uk. One is flying there. The…
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4 days in Porto, Portugal
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