Holiday Roundup

Hey There Peeps!

You may or may not have noticed that I've been MIA around the blogosphere these last couple of weeks. With good reason. I've been recharging the ol' batteries over in France, taking a jolly little holiday with Nick.

Brittany may typically have the weather we normally associate with the UK (i.e. prone to torrential rain and bracing winds) but in the coastal area of La Turballe, we were lucky once again to have had great weather. I say "once again" as for the first time, Nick & I have returned to exactly the same spot as the previous year, staying in the very same gite.

Despite my attire, it was incredibly hot. I'm wearing my thick lumberjack shirt because I forgot to pack many long-sleeved shirts this time around. I'm fair skinned, burn easily, even with sun cream and prefer to keep myself covered up when out in direct sun. I love the warmth but I'm pragmatic about reducing my risk of skin cancer. I mostly lounge around in the heat, in shade. However, when taking a stroll along the tide line, I cover up.

And this is why I LOVE walking along the tides. That wonderful feeling around your toes, when the waves lap around your ankles as they crash onto the shore.

However, even though there were brave souls venturing out into the sea to swim or snorkel, I waded in no further than my ankles. Mainly because there were hundreds of jellyfish floating around. They were mostly the smaller, purplish variety. But then there are these big buggers which you could have the misfortune to bump into. Their sting may be mild but I'd still prefer not to come in contact with a stray glutinous tentacle.

Now this is what I prefer to discover and photograph when taking in a coastal stroll. The joy of rock pooling is in that moment you come across a living creature other than a crab or shrimp. Especially when it's one which displays a gorgeous bright orange red colour.

We turned up to this particular beach when the tide was out. In the distance, you can see people with buckets raking the sand and collecting shellfish. We'd been to this spot several times before and this was the first time the sea was out enough to reveal a path to the island. Excited at seeing somewhere new, we strolled out. Halfway down, Nick remembered with alarm that he'd left his mobile phone in the car, in full view. Whilst he rushed back for it, I carried on down to island to sit and wait.

When I finally saw Nick approaching me again, I could see him waving his arms in a gesture to get moving. Furthermore, as he came closer, I could here him shouting to me that the tide was quickly moving in. I'd only been sat there a few minutes.

Yup, the stretch of water between the beach & the island was quickly coming in. We were the last two to make our way back. You can just about make out that the guys ahead of us are already up to their knees. If we had been 5 minutes later, we would have been stranded until the tide went out the following day. Unless we swam. Oops!

Away from coastal adventures, we took a trip to a Bonsai & cacti centre. Inside the greenhouses are displays of incredible bonsai trees (at incredible prices) and succulents, including rare specimens. Outside, they have a labyrinthine trail of plants and trees to snake around. Between us, we took hundreds of photos. I'll share just two. This is Nick squatting beside a young bonsai oak tree. Yes it's a thing.

And then there's this. It may only be Nick & I who have never come across them before. You may have seen them and think they're common, wondering as to why I found them fascinating. They're wild strawberries. Which is not unusual, I grant you. After all, we have them growing in our own garden. It's that this variety has the fruit growing upwards and out, looking like the central bud of a flower. Not, as I'm used to seeing them, dangling down from a stalk.

I couldn't do a round up without mentioning food, especially as I indulged in two of my favourites. If you know me of old, you already are aware that I'm a huge fan of the delicious french treats, Macarons. Well this beauty was served up as an eclair version when we dined out one evening.

My other favourite is to have a Fruit de Mer, which is a large dish of freshly prepared shellfish topped off with either a crab or lobster. It's a hands on meal, where you get down and dirty. You have to break, pull apart, smash and scoop your way through the many varieties of (some of them live) shellfish. It is not for the squeamish. But if you love the taste of the sea, it's amazing.

And finally. This photo is one I took especially for my friend Neet. These fabulous socks, decorated in macarons were a fun Xmas gift from her last year. I saved them especially for this trip where I gave them their first outing!!!! Thanks Neet :D

Now that I'm back in the UK, I should be feeling fully recharged and invigorated. In truth, it feels like another lifetime ago. A distant memory. I'm back into the full swing of normal home life, as if I never went away. And I know it's the stereotype but the one thing I definitely missed and headed straight for when I returned home was a proper cup of tea. In fact I'm sipping on an orange & cinnamon flavoured one now, as I type. Bliss!

Brittany - As We've Never seen It Before!

I have just plopped myself back in the UK after having had a brilliant holiday! Which first of all means that the last few days have been all about trying to play catch up. It's taken a few days but normality is just about in reach. Thankfully, I still feel fantastically rested and I have returned with...wait for it...some colour to my usually pallid complexion.

This is not normal. For starters, we returned to Brittany, to exactly the same region we visited last year. However, this time around, we had two weeks of blue skies and hot sun. And we were based only a ten minute stroll away from a beach. We don't do beach holidays and we are both somewhat shy of the sun, given that we both have fair skin. So it's been a novelty to have experienced a "sun, sand & sea" holiday.

Enough preamble! On with the obligatory photos...

This is the Gite where we stayed. The owners lived next door but thankfully gave us our privacy. I vowed that if we caught them lurking around, I'd start sunbathing in the altogether and ensure we never saw them again. Thankfully I didn't have to resort to such extreme measures.

The reason we love this area of Brittany is that we can be near the sea but we are not limited to sitting on beaches. The geography is wonderfully varied and for the most part, quite rocky. And when the tide is low, there's even the chance to go check out the caves. At high tide, where I'm standing is completely underwater.

There are plenty of craggy rocks to scramble over and go exploring around the rockpools, hunting for shrimps and crabs. Or just sitting on and soaking up the rays. I am in utter bliss listening to the sea crash against rocks. It's the most soothing sound in nature.

We bought a pair of Paris Brests everyday from the local patisserie. They were the best we've ever tasted. Utterly moorish.  The shop' owner told Nick that he also sold over 30 different flavours of Chocolate eclairs too.  Thank goodness we don't live here. I'd be the size of a house within weeks.

Me paddling in the sea. It's something I love to do and very seldom have the opportunity. Just to stroll along the shore line with waves lapping my toes. Bliss!

I had to include this shot as it was so unusual. On one of our coastal outings, this large moth (butterfly?) flew straight onto Nick's hand and stayed there long enough for us both to photograph it. Gorgeous colouring.

And yes, more insects. We visited a garden on one of our excursions and they had a pond the size of a lake. It was swarming with dragonflies. It was a beautiful, serene spot and we couldn't tear ourselves away. Nick was busy clicking away with his fancy large DSLR camera and I had my pocket sized one. I dislike having to carry my large camera around. Especially on holiday as I know I'll just take snapshots. However, I was astounded at the quality of the photos my little camera took. Like this one. Yes, I took it! I have now fallen in love with my camera.

Here's Nick buying deliciously ripe and ready to eat avocados. Something he masters incredibly well and I fail at hopelessly. I can speak the language. In fact, I know more French than Nick. But I fail to make myself understood. I love and envy that he can go around the market stalls and speak with the locals. I just end up frustrated and coming away with a kilo of pate or a litre of honey.

One of our coastal walks took in four or five different bays like this. Every time we rounded the corner, we came across another. We found a shady spot and ate our lunch around here.

What can I say! Shoes and socks!!!!! Good job he doesn't care (and neither do I) about such fashion faux pas lol.

Finally, just a few of the colourful snapshots I took. Whether we were visiting towns,  cities, or beach resorts, we came across so much more colour over in France than we see over here in the UK. Even just ordering a cup of tea in the dingiest bar, I noticed on the red table top in front of me, was my crumpled green teabag sachet, alongside an orange biscuit wrapper and a pink block of sugar. Europe seems such a more joyful place for all the colours they surround themselves with. Back home, all I can see are muted palettes, browns and greys. That's why my project this year is to bring a rainbow of bright colour into our home. I've caught the European bug. And of course, I'll share my progress as and when I do.

Right, I must go and make that salad for dinner. I need to undo all the naughty sweet treats of the last couple of weeks

Switzerland By Rail

Hello Once Again My Dear Readers

Warning! If reading blogs where people yammer on about how lovely their holiday was, makes you want to kick a puppy across the street, look away now. This is an unapologetic holiday album post. Completely and utterly indulgent. And there are a heck of a lot of photos I'm going to be sharing too. So either click the close button now or grab a cup of something warm to keep you going to the end.

Recently, as I've already mentioned in a previous post, I've been to Switzerland. We came back with thousands of photos, so it's taken until now to share them as I've spent many an hour going through and editing them. You may think there's a lot of photos coming up but that's nothing compared to how many there are in total, sitting on our computers.

First up, this is all I took for the whole eight days, a fleece jacket, a rucsac for clothes and a bag containing my books, music and camera

Our first night was spent in Cologne, Germany, after a train journey which took us beside the glorious views of the River Rhine. This is a shot of us on the steps of its cathedral. The ghostly images to the left are because of the long camera exposure. We were trying out a new tripod.

The Bernina Pass was one of the highlights of the trip, taking us deep into the mountains and snow.

We were incredibly lucky with the weather for all our sightseeing trips. Blue, cloudless skies were the perfect backdrop to the glorious white, snow-covered mountains. It may not look like it in this photo but I'm actually standing in the middle of a frozen lake.

The above photos I'm sharing for my crafty readers especially the knitters among you. On a day trip to Arosa, we noticed that they covered everything that stood still, in bright knitwear. Handrails, lamp posts, shutters and even trees.

Saw these in a shop window, about the size of a large football. They look like a cross between a sea urchin and a tribble from Star Trek. I sooo wanted to take one home but I'd need to re-mortgage my home to afford one. Everything they say about Switzerland being expensive is true. Think about what you night imagine something could cost, treble it and you'll be close.

 A holiday can't go by without a picture of me stood outside a chocolate shop.

Train-wise, this was the other highlight, riding on the Glacier Express into stunning snow-covered mountains and frozen lakes towards our next destination.

My iPod & my Kindle. I took them everywhere with me. Oh yes and my reading glasses! (cos I'm an Old Git)

Our hotel in Kandersteg. It was like stepping into a Christmas card here. Fresh snow greeted us each morning, as did the snow ploughs moments later.

I hadn't realised when booking the holiday that there would be an excursion to Zermett and an opportunity to go see the Matterhorn. Again, we were very lucky with the weather. Bright sun and blue skies. In fact, I came away a tad red with sunburn. Only problem was that to take a photo of us with the Matterhorn in the background, we had to squint directly into the sun, hence the pained expressions.

My favourite moment of the whole holiday, sat on a balcony, with a spectacular view of the mountains, a hot chocolate in my hand and the sun blasting down. A moment to treasure.

On our final day, we took ourselves off to the capital, Bern. This is just a section of the longest shopping arcade in Europe (and probably the most expensive too).

Once more, we had great weather. We climbed up high to the City's rose garden where we sat on a wall and took in the panoramic view. Don't know why but I wanted to show my feet in the shot too.

Bern is known for the ornamental fountains along its streets. This one particularly grabbed my attention. An ogre with a child in it's mouth and a queue of youngsters around him, ready to be gobbled up. Delightfully grotesque and at the same time heart-warming lol.

Food!!! Apart from chocolate, we came across these moorish discs. A Frisbee of sweet batter, coated in icing sugar. Like a large crisp tasting of doughnut.

And finally, I couldn't resist these oh-so-cute biscuits found in all the bakeries here. Very reminiscent of Jammy Dodgers.

Phew!!! That's the lot. We packed a bucket load into only a few days. It was exhausting but worth it. I've come home with incredible memories and an itch to return someday.

Bring on the next holiday!