Pregnant and camping: Why not?
The camping holiday we took in early summer of 2007 raised a few eyebrows for obvious reason — I was five months on the family way. Hubby and I are so fond of camping that my condition did not deter me...
View ArticleThe charming village of Bormes les Mimosas
It’s another snowless winter day here in Holland so allow me to indulge in my memories of warm and sunny summer days. Let me take you to this lovely village that we stumbled upon on our holiday in the...
View ArticleA peek at glitzy St. Tropez
Who says dreams don’t come true? Growing up, places like St. Tropez, French Riviera, Provence and the South of France came to my consciousness from reading too much Mills & Boon novels. The...
View ArticleRoyal weekend at Palais Het Loo (Het Loo Palace)
The upside of living in Amersfoort which is pretty centrally located in the country is its close proximity to many places worth exploring especially on weekends and throughout the year. Two royal...
View ArticleTuscany
Time to think of warm sunny days especially as the dismal Dutch spring this year is already making not just me but a lot of people edgy. Spring is already mid-way but the nice days we had so far can be...
View ArticleRelaxing under the Tuscan sun and skies
While sitting under the tree and enjoying the cool breeze blowing off the 40°C heat, I can’t help but wonder why we’ve never gone to Tuscany before. Our next door neighbor in Holland has been going to...
View ArticleTuscan sunset at Pelagaccio
The nice thing about staying in an agriturismo was that it was possible to escape the madness of crowded places like the earlier part of the day we spent in Volterra and retreat to the tranquil of...
View ArticlePizza party at Diacceroni
City trip to Florence under the scorching heat was exhausting. It was great to escape and be back to the laid back countryside atmosphere at Pelagaccio and Diacceroni. We arrived at Pelagaccio after...
View ArticleLaid-back life under the Tuscan sun
After a busy day in Florence and staying late for the pizza party and the subsequent football match, we took it easy the following day, just stayed at Pelagaccio, went for a dip at the pool and simply...
View ArticleThe Leaning Tower of Pisa
After a lazy day yesterday of just being at the pool and not having anything else on the itinerary, we decided to do some sightseeing in Pisa, a place whose claim to fame is its leaning tower. It’s a...
View ArticleHoliday at last
After leaving a very wet Holland, we arrived in Normandy for an overnight stay in this lovely chateau just outside Alencon. Wonderful experience! Filed under: Family, France, Travel Tagged: camping,...
View ArticleHoliday afterthoughts
My sincere apologies for the long absence on this space. First, both work and home fronts went haywire in the weeks preceding our holiday and then our holiday for almost 3 weeks in France kicked off...
View ArticleA lovely stay in a French chateau
I must have been a royal in previous life to have this extreme fascination for castles and palaces and anything royal and regal. Looking for a place to spend overnight somewhere in France, midway to...
View ArticleOur first foray exploring the area around Arcachon Bay
Heading to the west coast of France further down Brittany proved to be a pleasant surprise. For one, it was not as busy as what we had experienced the previous year in the South of France. Even at the...
View ArticleFrench pride on their local products
I envy the French on their pride for everything French and it is no wonder that the local industry is alive and well. Local markets and shops selling traditional French products are everywhere and I am...
View ArticleCamping life
From the chateau to the tent — that’s many notches downgrade to our accommodation but we truly love going to the basics. To our little girl, the tent is more fun than the chateau and she can do a...
View ArticleDiscovering the Atlantic
I grew up in a country bounded on one side by the Pacific and the other side by the South China Sea. Imagine turquoise blue waters and coconut-tree lined beaches with powdery white sand… yes, the...
View ArticleFishery Day Observance in Spakenburg
Don’t we oftentimes look far beyond the horizon for many exciting things to see and miss what is right under our noses? This would seem the case with me for having been to other places to witness...
View ArticleMonet’s home and garden in Giverny
Monet entered my consciousness as a college freshman taking up the elective subject of Humanities. His paintings of water lilies from his garden in Giverny were special favorites. Fast forward to over...
View ArticleExploring Paulliac and the Medoc wine areas
The wines of Paulliac came highly recommended from the marquis of the chateau where we stayed in Alencon. Since it was our first time to be in the area, we had no clue as to what can be expected. We...
View ArticleMarket day in Sarlat-la-Canéda
On this particular warm summer day, we were celebrating a special day, my father-in-law’s birthday. In earlier years when they still live up north in Holland in the Friesian farm house which has a very...
View ArticleChateau de Hautefort and its gardens
The day before my parents-in-law were due to fly back to Holland, we went to visit yet another castle — the Chateau de Hautefort. This castle was about an hour’s drive from our base so we brought our...
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