paris

had meant to escape to paris earlier this year but work commitments meant a change in eurostar tickets. the only free weekend was the one right after returning to london so no brainer, nevermind it was going to be my last weekend before starting final year and i really should've stayed put to sort things out. felt a bit silly to keep saying it was my final fling before final year because had a little wobble in paris and booked to go to copenhagen during first weekend of final year. old habits die hard, and my flight reflex is a little stronger than the fight.

paris doesn't even need to try and i'm in love. C suggested the new LVMH museum and hm i have to agree with the tourist who sniffed, 'so much space, so little art'. maybe my leanings are more conventional and while i agree it's an amazing space with incredibly architecture (ok, a little same-y but it's gehry after all) it was a bit thin in terms of art work. nothing particularly eye-catching and nothing that made me go 'wow'. i wasn't wow-ed! and that upset me because i'd expected to be.

rooftop bar to end all roof top bars. my love affair with the eiffel tower was renewed. have many happy memories of going to sleep looking at the tower when i stayed with the Bs. they took me in when i was on exchange in stockholm, and a couple of times during my grad trip when they let me use paris as a base. i've watched their boys grow up . met P when he was two and M very kindly drove us from paris to chamonix and he's now all grown up about to go to university. F is elegant as ever, what's up with french women who look so put together all the time, even first thing in the morning. it was lovely to see them again, to see them doing well.

more pretty villages

there was this perfect moment when we'd stopped for crepes by the sidewalk and had the yummiest savoury crepes. simple stuff, local fatty pork and cheese, apples and were chatting over lunch when this street performer dressed as charlie chaplin started dancing to happy music. the sun was just right, the company even better and the music had me wanting to join the tap dance (hey, secret skill!). it was one of those things one can't plan, but enjoys immensely when it happens and for a while everything was well with our world.

re-visited deauville! was there during my gradtrip and proudly wearing my honfleur hat. the mister hadn't been but my various protestations that it was twee and artificial fell on deaf ears. he had to see it for himself. and he did. and it was cuter than i remember it to be but trying too hard for me to find it truly attractive. so we did a quick survey then headed to honfleur which i much prefer.

pretty villages

i've a sign in my kitchen that says, 'all happiness depends on a leisurely breakfast'. am not a breakfast person and usually go without. will make an exception when i'm on holiday, or if the mister desperately wants someone to have breakfast with. so the ritual of having breakfast makes me feel like i'm on holiday. we'd said leisurely breakfast in the beautiful dining room before heading out for the day. there were pretty villages aplenty and we were spoilt for choice. happened to bump into a well-dressed russian foursome who were staying at the same chateau at a few stops en route so we must've all been reading the same travel blogs!

henry iv shenanigans

the mister decided to go to normandy on a whim. booked the eurotunnel on friday for saturday departure and off we went! ol'blighty, for all its flaws, is really good when it comes to continental travel. when the tunnel works, and one's not delayed. like it was on our way back. but that's another story. 

he's been to normandy when he was on exchange in belgium and i'd been on my grad trip so we were glad to miss the must-see must-dos like the beaches, bunkers and war memorials etc. had a friend in london before christmas last year who must it very eloquently. he said he'd been to london before, didn't need to do the touristy thing and was really just in town to spend time with friends. he probably said it much better but i felt how lovely it must've been to be in a city without FOMO or tourist pressure. and that's sort of how this trip to normandy was. the mister plotted our route over breakfast and we'd spend the day wandering around "the prettier villages in france" which was such a treat for the senses.

oh and the chateau we stayed at is where henry iv allegedly engaged in trysts so we felt very boring staying with our legal +1s.