Holiday Recap 2017

Barcelona

Reykjavik

Dubrovnik

Kotor, Montenegro

Milan

Paris

Helsinki

Scotland

Brussels

Rotterdam

Dunfermline, Scotland

2017 was a busy year for me and Alessio, we visited lots of places including two new countries Iceland and Montenegro.

January - Barcelona, Spain

February - Iceland

April - Croatia and Montenegro

May -   Milan and Paris

June - Helsinki, Finland

August - Scotland

October - Belgium and The Netherlands

December - Scotland


This year the big holiday will be to New Zealand in the summer, which I am looking forward too!

Happy holiday planning!

Paris Postcards

Eglise de la Trinité

New Opera House

Place Vendome

Banque de France

Place des Victories- Statue of Louis XIV

Cool cafe on Rue Etienne Marcel

Church Saint Eustache

Place René Cassin - Statue  The Listener

At the end of May I visited Paris with Alessio, the main reasons were to visit the Palace of Versailles and Monet`s House and Gardens. It was a very hot few days which didn`t help when we were standing in long queues for the two main places!

I decided to pick a hotel in an area of Paris which I had not seen before and near to the train station Saint Lazare. Personally I think walking around Paris is one of the joys of this city, there is so much to see and do!

Actually the only part of the city which we saw again was the Eiffel Tower and that was because Alessio wanted to see it again. I have to admit that I also like to see the tower too. I also met up with a friend Heidi and we got to see her lovely baby girl Maya.

Our final day we only had the morning until lunchtime so we made the most of it, we walked to the Place Vendome and from there we wondered to Place des Victories. Then I discovered a really great part of Paris, lots of fantastic shops, markets and cafe/restaurants. The Rue Montorgueil in the 1st and 2nd arrondissement, is a pedestrian area. Not just this street but the others around are all very interesting and I wish I had known about it before. I would highly recommend a visit if anyone goes to Paris!!

Wishing you all a great weekend!

365 Photo Challenge Days 220 to 230

Day 220: Wednesday 17 May - my new bag

Day 221: Thursday 18th May - Bouquet of flowers

Day 222: Friday 19th May- yummy treat

Day 223: Saturday 20th May - good book

Day 224: Sunday 21st May - river Sihl

Day 225: Monday 22nd May- outdoor furniture

Day 226: Tuesday 23rd May - Growing cress

Day 227: Wednesday 24th May - wild flowers

Day 228: Thursday 25th May - Alessio in Paris

Day 229: Friday 26th May - Wonderful Monet`s Garden

Day 230: Saturday 27th May - Place Vendome, Paris

Time is just running away, now it is July and less than two weeks until the summer holidays for Alessio. He will be off to Italy first with his dad and then to Scotland with me! Yesterday I went to see The Lumineers in concert, great band! Then on Thursday to a book reading of the New Zealander writer Anthony Mccarten, I won these tickets from the English book store Orelli Fussli.

Wishing you all a good mid week!

A Long Weekend in Paris!

Chopin Grave

The last weekend of May, Alessio and I visited Paris, for me it was my fifth time, for Alessio it was his first. The main reason was because we were invited to the wedding of Heidi and Lamine, so I planned numerous activities that would be of interest to Alessio.

We arrived on Saturday around lunchtime and we headed straight for our hotel which was very near to the Arc de Triomphe which I already posted about. I thought Alessio would really like to visit Musée de l´Armée which is situated at Les Invalides, this is the national military museum of France. He liked seeing the exhibition on guns, tanks, weapons, different types of uniforms and war, we also saw the tomb of Napoleon I.

Afterwards we headed to see the Eiffel Tower, no trip to Paris is complete without seeing it (although you can see it from afar in many places) it is one of my favorite sights.  We did more wondering around the beautiful streets and found somewhere to eat.

The next day was rainy but we headed to an area which was new to me too, situated on the left bank of the river Seine is the Parc André Citroen. One of the highlights is a tethered helium balloon which you can go in and rises 300m and you see some of the Parisian sights. Sadly due to the weather we could not go in the balloon so we just walked around the park which was full of people jogging.

That evening was the wedding which I do not have so good photos to show you all! We had a good time and saw some friends which I do not see regularly.

Finally on the Monday our last day we only really had the morning to do some exploring, so we visited the Pere Lachaise Cemetery which I had wanted to visit for some time.  This cemetery has quite a lot of famous people buried here such as Oscar Wilde, Moliere, Chopin, and Jim Morrison which I wanted to see. Unfortunately I wondered up and down the row where he is buried but could not see it. Alessio had a great time climbing over the graves and jumping around, in fact he was so pleased to be here he shouted out "Mummy thank you for bringing me here"!

So our long weekend in Paris was over we headed to the Gare de Lyon for our train back to Zurich. If travelling to Paris from Zurich the train is much better than the plane as you are right in the centre of Paris on arrival!