Carnivals, decadance, culture and a sense of mystery are just some of the things that inspire me to visit somewhere new. Having savoured the novels of Michelle Louric over the last couple of years, I feel as if I know this city and its history very well. Venice is a beautifully sleepy, atmospheric and stunning [...]

It’s not often you end up having dinner with the hottest Brit boy band around, and it’s true, we have photographic evidence from this weekend’s Disneyland Paris adventure. Yes, this grainy photo is The Wanted. They were guests of honour at the Christmas Disney trip last weekend. To say that Miniminx was star struck was [...]

This is my first post on our Christmas trip and I’ve not been able to upload my photos because the camera battery has crashed. But here’s a start anyhow. We’re in Disneyland Paris for the grand unveiling of the Christmas extravaganza. Susanna from Amodernmother is here and so is Liz Jarvis from Livingwithkids. We’re staying [...]

I travel a lot because I like to, and more often than not, it’s with my daughter. We’ve had both good and bad journeys but I always try and engender a sense of awareness in her so that she behaves herself, we all do don’t we? As women, we are told we play many roles [...]

We’ve just spent two days at Disneyland Paris and two days recovering have now had our Disney fix for another year or so. I am a lover of anything kitsch and pop, so Disney really does it for me – you can’t beat the iconic images of Mickey Mouse around the place and the great [...]

Is it possible to have a ‘green’ holiday? I went on a blogger trip to the Pierre et Vacances eco resort recently to find out. In part 1 of my story, I will talk about getting there and settling in. Why France? If you’re in need of a cultural experience and don’t want to travel [...]

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I found the visit incredibly inspiring and have started working again; that means painting and sketching. It’s one of my great loves Art but elusive at times but I seem to have grasped it again, for some time I hope, and all in the face of the volcano no less.

So home and back to the grindstone it maybe but the simple pleasure of cooking an evening meal and having neighbours pop over to say hello is just the bees knees. I’ve always believed that travel broadens the mind, but it also emboldens the home loving heart much more than I imagined or remembered.

I hear volcanic ashes are landing in my hometown and the skies are clear like never before. That’s what happens when you’re living in the flightpath and volcanic clouds are on the loose I suppose. We are away so have yet to benefit from this experience. In fact we are on the flipside of it, [...]

When I told my friends and family that I was taking my daughter with me on a trip across Morocco I was met with two reactions. One was ‘Wow!’ and the other was ‘You’re kidding!’ Armed with backpacks, sleeping bags, cameras and sunglasses, we headed off from Heathrow and from the moment we left our [...]

I love this photo, I took it at a stop on our drive through the Atlas Mountains, heading to Marrakech. The funny thing is that this must be the most eco-friendly shop in the world – it has no electricity, sells natural products and the carbon foot-print is probably tiny (unless you count the wind [...]

When we flew to Casablanca, I was caught up in the whole romance of it all. In the back of my mind was the movie; Humphrey, Ingrid, Sam and all those wonderful characters who smoked and drank throughout the black and white block buster. Since we don’t have ‘an airline ticket to romantic places’ anymore [...]

It’s been quite a week. Next week will also be quite a week. And the week after. I can feel the walls closing in a bit – the routine is starting to bite hard – the Summer evenings are long gone, the mornings are dark and while Autumn brings it’s own sweet and ruddy colours, [...]