Beaches and Fireworks

Carousels and Crystals

It’s nearly the end of my holiday – boo!

Thankfully, it’s been a beautiful week – one day of which was spent in the delightful Weymouth. Picture your stereotypical coastal town: stretches of sand, turquoise sea, pastel houses, donkey rides and an endless parade of tourist shops selling crystals, ice cream and souvenirs. That’s Weymouth. 

I spent the afternoon strolling around the quaint streets, eating Frozen Yoghurt and watching the boats in the quayside. Pretty sweet! 

What I Wore

Dress  – Dorothy Perkins | Floral crown – New Look | Shoes – New Look | Bag – Accessorize | Necklace – Accessorize

Summer Fireworks

And to finish off the day, we headed to Poole Quay for a round of fireworks. When you live by the sea, this is a weekly event over summer. I set my camera to a long exposure to capture the crazy patterns – take a look! 

By The Seaside

Hello! I hope you’re all having a lovely week!

It’s my week off this week, so I’ve been fully embracing the world of no alarm clocks, late nights and day trips. Needless to say, I’m having a wonderful time!

I’ve written myself a little to-do list to make sure I don’t waste my week off with Netflix. Top of the the list was a visit to the beautiful seaside town of Swanage. A couple of years back, I spent many a summer evening here, walking along the sea front, guzzling fish and chips and taking in the sights. It might be one of my favourite past times, and I was long overdue a visit this summer.

Swanage’s relaxed atmosphere, down to earth locals and quaint boutiques make it a pretty perfect place to spend the evening. I never thought I’d say this about somewhere in Dorset, but it’s rumoured to be a great place for celebrity spotting (none spotted this evening though, boo)!

An evening by the seaside felt like the perfect opportunity to dig out my H&M floppy hat, which I’ve never quite had the confidence, or the right outfit, to wear. When teamed with my Boohoo Bardot crop top and pleated midi skirt, I felt a definite Marianne Faithfull or Faye Dunnaway vibe. In my books, this is most certainly a big winner!

I’ve been toting this Accessorize bag all month (another summer sale bargain!) and it’s definitely become my summer favourite! I’m almost exclusively donning white accessories this summer, what don’t they go with? And, of course, you rarely see me without these River island strappy shoes. Aside from it’s copper emblem that leaves a green imprint on the sole of my foot (just me with this issue?), it’s my perfect shoe. 

Hopefully there will be a few more snaps like these before the summers out – the seaside is my favourite place to be!

Kitten Update: 4 months old!

It’s official: the kittens are exactly four months old today! Can you believe it’s been that long since I was posting adorable baby pictures of them to… well, just about everywhere?

I’ve had a few lovely people enquiring about the kittens recently: how they’re getting on, where are they now and what they look like, so I thought I’d settle everyone’s questions with one big update!

It’s been something of a bittersweet journey between my last kitten post and this. I was so overjoyed to know each kitten was going to a loving home and to be able to keep tabs on them all, but unfortunately, there’s some sad news too. Their mummy, Evie, went missing just before the first kitten left home and weeks later there’s still no sign of her. Evie came into my life just before I graduated in 2012 and she’s been there through some massive milestones for me: leaving University, first jobs, big brithdays… It’s really strange not having her beautiful self with me.

But Evie’s disappearance meant I could keep Jude – who I’d been worried would end up going to strangers and I’d lose all contact with him. So, I suppose every cloud has a silver lining – and I think Jude is certainly the most like his gorgeous Mama – they’re both incredibly aloof and cool (and fluffy).

But back to the topic of this post – how the kittens are getting on. I sent each of their owners (and myself) a little questionnaire and a request for pictures – the answers are below. It’s amazing how different each kitten has grown to be.

Penny

Penny lives with my best friend Ellie in Surrey. This well travelled feline is a constant source of mischief and fun. She’s no stranger to a manic five minutes, loves joining in with the washing up and already has a cat best friend who comes to visit her.

Nicknames: B.B., The Beeb, Pussk, Princess Penelope, Minky

Personality: Funny, naughty, affectionate, mad, happy.

Hobbies: Chilling out in sink, helping with the washing up (or so she thinks), staring at her garden cat-friend through the window, finding inconvinient places to sit, and making toys from household objects (walnuts and balled up crisp packets are her favourites).

Favourite toy: Her birdie.

Funniest moment: Hearing Penny crying downstairs and, upon investigation, finding her stuck in the leg of a skinny jean.

Naughtiest habit: Biting my ankles.

What does she bring to your life: She’s fluffy and she has a face and I love her.

Pepper

My mother is now the proud owner of this insanely charming kitten; no one can resist this boy’s charisma. According to the vet, he’s set to grow into a big cat, so I’m hoping he’ll eventually resemble a small panther. He’s also endlessly cheerful and has the loudest purr in the world!

Nicknames: Peppy, Peps, Pepsi, Boysie.

Personality: Lively, comical, clumsy, cute, cheerful.

Hobbies: Eating, catching flies, jumping, hiding, making toys from random objects – current faves include a bean pod and a brazil nut.

Favourite toy: His little black mouse.

Funniest moment: Finding Pepper hanging by his paws from the landing, perilously dangling over a 10 foot drop. Or when he ran headfirst into the door.

Naughtiest habit: Jumping on window sills. And the time he weed on Kate’s bed (and then she sat on it, excellent practical joker that Pepper).

What does he bring to your life: Joy and fun!

Maggie

Miss Maggie lives with my sister Kate, and this is her very first pet of her own! She’s a very friendly poppet who adores attention, adventures and creating havoc. Her best friend is her brother Jude and they’re almost inseparable.

Nicknames: Moo, Mooey, Maggs.

Personality: Weird, adorable, fabulous, greedy, hilarious.

Hobbies: Eating, catching imaginary objects, cuddling and/or annoying people.

Favourite toy: My feet, I seem to be her personal scratching post.

Funniest moment: Finding her in the kitchen bin….not quite sure how that happened… I swear she knows every way to cause mischief! She also once sunbathed in the garden, ran back into the house and looked out of the window to see if she could spot herself outside. She couldn’t.

Naughtiest habit: Stalking you as you try to eat…I don’t want a cat in my face whilst I eat dinner!

What does she bring to your life: Maggie is my best cat friend who cannot talk back to me as she happens to not speak human languages (or can she?!).

Jude

Mr. Gorgeous. He is the coolest cat around and enjoys sititng at this window sill to people watch and battle insects. He is a total foodie and loves eating. He loves his sister Maggie very dearly, and they often walk around with their tails entwined. I’ll give you a minute to process that amazingly adorable mental image.

Nicknames: Judey, Judey-Woo, and more formally, “Mr. Woo”.

Personality: Aloof, cool, nature-loving, inquisitive, loyal.

Hobbies: Eating, people watching, nature rambling, insect catching, being aloof and handsome, perfecting the Paul McCartney ‘bitch face’.

Favourite toy: He enjoys chewing my feet nearly as much as any toy mouse or jingly ball.

Funniest moment: Jude is genuinely too cool to do anything embarrassing like his siblings. However, he did slap Kate in the face when she asked to kiss him, which, naturally, I found highly funny.

Naughtiest habit: Eating his sister’s food when she isn’t looking and trying to chew my iPhone/ laptop charger cable.

What does he bring to your life: I like to think Jude teaches me a little something about being cool. Occasionally he also showers me with love and affection. That’s nice too.

I hope you’ve enjoyed catching up with Penny, Pepper, Maggie and Jude! For more pictures, check out my Intagram feed! If you’re feeling nostalgiic, take a look at this post from when they were five weeks old – how they’ve changed!

Until next time,

X

Flower Girl

This weekend just gone was pretty bloomin’ marvellous. A photo shoot in Upton Park, lazing by the beach and celebrating a friend’s birthday until the early hours. If you head over to my Instagram account, you can see a few snaps of me paddling in the sea and partying in Camden, but here I have the lovely pictures from Saturday’s shoot!

I’m wearing one of my favourite dresses this season and – would you believe – it’s from Primark! It has all the hallmarks of the perfect summer dress: white, strapless, Broderie Anglaise, a Fifties silhouette, a bow, and even pockets (!). Not bad for £10, eh? 

 Dress: Primark | Shoes: River Island | Bag: Accessorize 

And, of course, a huge thank you to the talented Emily for her brilliant photography skills!

Ahoy Sailor!

Dream dress

When you purchase the sailor dress of your dreams (hello velvet ribbon!), there’s really only one location to début it… the beach!

The eagle eyed among you might have noticed this dress mentioned on my blog before, as it’s something I’d coveted for months! As soon as summer arrived, I knew it was time to make it mine! It is, of course, a Vintage Style Me handmade creation. Their smocks are without a doubt the comfiest dresses in my collection; they’re super flattering, they leave plenty of room for seaside ice creams and as they’re made with light weight cotton, they’re perfect for summer!

I stuck with a navy & white nautical theme, with a preppy white New Look backpack (eat your heart out Cher Horowitz) and a pair of River Island chunky white sandals. Next time I’ll be donning  red accessories (to match the ole lippy!) for a bit of va-va-voom.

I still have a VSM voucher to use from my birthday, so I’ll be adding to my already vast collection soon!

Let’s go to the beach!

As soon as the sun appears, I feel incredibly grateful to live just 15 minutes away from the seaside. Nothing relaxes me like sitting in the sand, watching the waves and eating ice cream! Even as the sun sets, there are plenty of people eating fish and chips, cooking barbecues and having  a bloomin’ good time – one of my favourite things in the world is an evening beach walk. I’m hoping to do quite a few of those this summer!

I had a gorgeous afternoon and I hope you all had a lovely weekend! Until next time,

X

Parlez-vous Franglais? Day Three.

The Eiffel Tower

No trip to Paris is complete without a quick visit to the world’s favourite landmark. With amazing panoramic views of the city, it’s must visit for any tourist, old or new.

There’s a few tips for a successful trip:

• Go when it’s quiet – week days and early in the morning are generally suggested to be the best times.
• Be prepared to queue, regardless! Even when I arrived early on Monday morning I queued for 40 minutes (still beats the couple of hours you might have to wait otherwise!).
• If you can, buy your tickets online so you don’t have to join the big queues. They sell them in specific time slots, but don’t release many – so be quick!

But it’s worth the queues for the amazing views – I’d recommend visiting all floors to make the most of it! I’m lucky as, of all my fears, heights is certainly not one of them! I loved the third floor – which is that little platform near the very top! At 896ft up, you can see for miles and miles and miles! Even if you’re a bit scared of heights, I’d recommend pushing past your fears for this – you won’t regret it.

Of course, we deserved a celebratory ice cream! Another chocolate-vanilla combo for me – which was my favourite treat en Paris. Where can we get these in the UK!?

Not long after this we headed back to the UK – another holiday over, boo! There was still time for one last embarrassing moment – a French boy asked if he could kiss me in a Carrefour (think Tesco’s) check out line. He then brought his elderly Grandpa over to translate. Mortifying…

As Audrey Hepburn once said, “Paris is always a good idea“. I’d fully agreee. Beautiful buildings, airy streets, al fresco cafes, uber safe transport, excellent food and shopping galore  – what more could a girl ask for? I’m pretty in love with this beautiful city and can’t wait until my next visit. Any takers?

I hope you enjoyed the pictures, videos and recaps of my adventures. Have you ever visited? What were your favourite moments?

Until next time,

Nikki

Parlez-vous Franglais? Day Two.

Montmartre

Our first port of call on day two was Montmartre, located in Paris’ Latin quarter. If you were a bohemian in the late 1800s, this was the place to go – think Van Gogh, Toulous-Lautrec and the rest of the Moulin Rouge crowd. As you can imagine, this is now a pretty big tourist spot- everyone wants to catch a bit of that Moulin Rouge sparkle; taking in a show, slugging coffee with local artists and taking in the amazing views from the Sacre Coeur. Being 10am, I did the latter.

But it’s not me without an embarrassing moment or two, right? After zooming through the Sacre Coeur (I’m not a church girl and there were enough shh-ing clergymen to ensure I didn’t want to hang around long), we took a stroll through the tourist-shop lined streets where street-artists in their handfuls roam, looking for tourists to draw (and charge). As soon as the spotted me, the sore thumb 23 year old with a head full of brightly coloured flowers and an even brighter lipstick, their targets were locked and loaded. “You’re so beautiful! May I draw you?” “You look like a Princess!” “Please, the artist wants what he wants!”. I am not sure compliment really count as compliments when the prospect of money is involved, so I was immediately doubtful of their sincerity! I’m not the best at receiving compliments as it is. Still, if you need an ego boost – head to Montmartre and wear flowers. That’s my number one tip.

Bateaux Mouches boat tour

After our morning in Montmartre, we headed the Bateaux Mouches for a boat trip across the Seine. It was midday by this point and around thirty degrees, which meant that the plastic chairs on the boat’s top deck were hot hot hot. There was a few scalded tourists leaping around the top deck before the cruise started! If you’re planning on cruising around the city this summer, bring  a layer you can sit on (top tip #2). The boat trip provided a completely different viewpoint of the city, so for anyone wanting interesting pictures, I’d seriously recommend it! All the iconic sights of Paris, Notre Dame, Eiffel Tower, Louvre etc, are very close by and the boat moves slowly enough for you to snap plenty of photographs. The trip takes about an hour and a half, so it’s a great opportunity to sit back, relax, eat some lunch and enjoy the stunning views. Just rememeber your sun cream…

Le Petit Palais

After our sweltering boat trip we were in serious need of shade and a drink. Our guide recommended we walk up to the Pont Alexandre III (a blooming beautiful bridge) and explore Le Petit Palais from there. When we reached the bridge, we collapsed, took a long drink and sat in the shade. And, of course, I couldn’t resist snapping a few outfit shots with a tantalising Eiffel Tower infused background. Le Petit Palais was a short stroll away, a jaw-droppingly beautiful building (do they make any other sort in Paris?) which acts as an art museum for a host of early 1900’s art. We saw humungous murals that took up whole walls, quirky portraits, and plenty of grand sculptures. It didn’t take too long to walk around and we found a delectable modern cafe outside. It’s big brother, La Grande Palais, sits across the road – if you have a while longer, it could be worth a look round. Judging by it’s side you’d need at least a couple of hours!

 

Champs-Elysées (again)

We were faced with two options after we arrived back from our boat trip and museum visit: relax in the hotel room (very tempting) or make the most of the beautiful city and head back out. We chose the latter and headed over to the Champs-Elysées again because I was desperate visit Laduree and try my first macarons!

You’ll be pleased to know I did visit Laduree, there was a huge queue so I didn’t buy anything. Looking satisfied me well enough, though! After checking that off my list, I realised I was very tired, very hot and pretty peckish. “I can’t face sitting down in the sun and waiting half an hour for some food”, I thought. We looked up and saw a McDonalds… the rest is history. I got a little bit excited by this Parisian Maccy D’s – which houses a McCafe selling tarte au citron, macarons and other delectable goodies, and you could order everything on a little screen and have it ready in under 60 seconds. It was a magical experience. I’m not even ashamed.

After our gourmet dinner, we took in a couple more shops and headed back to the hotel for our final night and a much needed sleep! Stay tuned for day three…

Parlez-vous Franglais? Day One.

By the time we got to our hotel we were feeling pretty tired from a long day of travelling and very warm from the unexpected 30 degree heat we arrived to. After changing into cooler clothes (in my case, both temperate-wise and aesthetically) we couldn’t face much more than a walk around Porte de St. Cloud to find a nice little place for dinner – or should I say le dîner?

This felt like the perfect excuse to don my new Broderie Anglaise dress and white sandals (Primark and River Island, respectively). After a quick walk, we found a little restaurant called La Fontaine, which had open air seating (much needed), classically French decor (I felt like Amelie!) and a very smiley waiter. I ordered a rather delicious melt-in-your-mouth bacon cheese burger, which arrived with a mountain of crispy golden fries. Am I dribbling?

After a quick walk around the local area, we headed back to the hotel room to grab some beauty sleep – we had a very busy day awaiting!

The Morning Tour

After a continental breakfast (better than expected), we headed out for a two hour tour of Paris. I’d highly recommend taking a guided tour of the city, as it’s a great opportunity to learn some interesting facts about the history of Paris you wouldn’t otherwise get to know! Did you know, Paris was originally inhabited by a group of Celts called the Parisii who lived on an island in the river Seine  – now  home to Notre Dame! The Notre Dame itself is about 800 years old, which makes it one of the oldest buildings in the city. The city is relatively modern looking, having been systemically demolished and rebuilt between 1860 and 1910; taking it from a medieval, overcrowded, crime-ridden crib of disease  to the Paris we see today – wide streets and awesome architecture that bring plenty of light and air into the beautiful city.

One thing I was surprised to see on my tour was the Statue of Liberty… seriously! I knew the real statue was built by the French as a “congrats on the independence” present to America, but the French actually have a smaller version that resides on an island in the river Seine! Eiffel (guess what he designed?) also engineered the interior skeletal support system that supports Lady Liberty, as they call her, which is basically very similar to the Eiffel Tower!
The morning tour was a great way to get an overview of Paris – which to my shame, I didn’t know much about. The grey weather didn’t show the city off to it’s fullest but never mind – the blue skies and bright sun started shining around midday!

Versailles

We then took a thirty minute ride to the historic palace of Versailles. The queue to get into the palace was huge, so we elected to walk around the gardens instead. I cannot describe just how big the palace and gardens are, taking up a whopping 67km squared! It’s no wonder that it took us the entire three hours to wander round (we still didn’t see everything)…

I’m not a gardens sort of girl – general speaking, I find them incredibly dull. But Versailles is a far cry from your typical English heritage garden. English gardens are designed to mimic nature as closely as possible, but Versailles is a never ending maze of perfectly manicured greenery and flora, hundreds of exquisitely designed sculptures and handfuls of fancy fountains and lakes. Louis XIV, who was behind the big expansion at Versailles, was a bit of a character – as all Kings tend to be – and thought he was a God on earth – as all Kings of the time tended to do. To show how powerful he was, he engineered the gardens to be so unnaturally prim and preened that it showed he was more powerful than nature. I can’t help but wonder how many gardeners he had to employ. If you look around you’ll notice quite a few references to Apollo, the Greek/Roman God of the Sun. This was because King Louis modelled himself on Apollo having played him once in a play. Which sounds weird, if you think about it, is no weirder than fifteen year old girls modelling themselves on Kim Kardashian. But I digress.

Whilst gardens are’t my bag, I was very impressed with the vast greenery and superb beauty of Versailles – it might have been easier to wander around if it was just a few degrees cooler though! We got so hot we simply had to treat ourselves to two ice-creams to cool down – when on holiday, right?

Champs-Elysées

After Versailles, we arrived back at the hotel and went straight out again to the Champs-Elysées! I was set on a pilgrimage to Sephora to find one very coveted item – their ‘Always Red’ cream lip stain. I was amazed to find it in their vast store and elated to find it was cheaper in store than online! Result! If you’ve noticed bright red lips in my other Paris pictures, that’s the one. We took a few photos by some beautifully decorated stores (the heavily flowered perfume shop looked amazing), as well as visiting beloved high store brands. My one regret is not getting to see Forever 21 as, not living near one in the UK, I’ve never been in before.

The Night Tour of Paris

This was perhaps my favourite part of the entire visit. Paris, the city of lights, is simply spectacular at night! If you visit at any point, you need to swing by the Eiffel Tower at night to watch the light show that happens on the hour. It’s very tourist-y, but you won’t regret it.

We got off the coach at Esplanade du Trocadéro to watch the Eiffel tower’s light show at 11pm, by which point the sky was finally properly dark. The bright lights looked amazing against the inky back drop of the night sky – you’ll see in the pictures and videos! We were given fifteen minutes to explore the area, watch the show and come back to the coach to continue the tour. A slight hiccup arose when we arrived back fifteen minutes later to find no tour guide, no fellow passengers and no bus to be seen… We waited five minutes before taking the Metro back to the hotel. It turns out the guide and passengers hadn’t realised we were missing and it took until their next stop before recounting and realising we were gone – panic reportedly set in and they came back to look for us. By that point we were probably walking back to our hotel! We were pretty much minor celebrities at breakfast the next morning  – everyone wanted to hear our adventure (unfortunately it wasn’t that exciting).

Stay tuned for day two of my adventures!

Nikki’s Guide to Paris

If any of you have been wondering where I’ve gone – it’s been nearly two weeks since I last posted – I’ve been in the beautiful city of Paris!

Naturally I have a lot of pictures and adventures to share with you all, but before I do that I thought I’d write a little guide to Paris and give you a taster of the posts I’ll be adding later this week! I’ve also created a little video, if you’d like to take a look:

What did I do?

I went with a company called Riviera, which I suppose makes this a package holiday. Don’t roll your eyes just yet, because this was a brilliantly cost effective way to travel. A return ticket on the Eurostar, a three night stay in a four star hotel on the edge of the city, breakfast, and the option of a coach and your guide to ferry us around to the best landmarks for just over £300? To me, that’s pretty amazing value!

During my little stay, I took a coach tour of the city, walked around the beautiful Versailles Palace, went shopping on the Champs-Élysées (twice!), enjoyed a night tour of Paris and saw the light show at the Eiffel Tower, took in the scenic sights at Montmartre and the Sacre Coeur, took a boat ride across the Seine, visited Le Petit Palais to take in absorb culture and travelled up to the third floor of the Eiffel Tower. Not to mention the countless cafés and restaurants!

A jam packed weekend right?

The sights to see

You can’t go to Paris without going to the top of the Eiffel Tower, which offers one of the most beautiful, panoramic views of the city. I’m lucky enough to not suffer with vertigo (I actually quite enjoy heights!) but my mum does – and even she was okay with the 1000 foot heights – you feel completely safe up there. It’s most definitely worth a visit and if you can get tickets online before hand to save you the hour long queues, all the better.

You need to take in a bit of culture when in Paris – a museum is definitely called for. Luckily, Paris has about a million of them. Do you want to see classic artworks such as the Mona Lisa and the Venus de Milo? Head to Louvre! Is Impressionism your bag? The Musée d’Orsay for you! There’s also plenty of architecture to absorb by walking around the city, from the Gothic spires of Notre Dame to the Baroque beauty of the Louvre, and the Egyptian Luxor Obelisk in Place de la Concorde.

Travel

When I wasn’t travelling via coach, I was taking the Metro to get from A to B. It’s a lot like the Underground, but less scary. You see, Paris is a pretty safe city and unlike London, where the tubes are filled with strangers eyeballing each other warily, the set up was bus-like, with clusters of seats and normal people having a nice chat. It’s even safe at night- still full of families, old people and vicars. If I had to catch the Underground at 11pm I’d be a little scared, I’m not going to lie! Why I was getting the metro at nearly midnight is another story – look out for that in my Day 1 blog post! The metro is incredibly fast and it never took more then fifteen minutes to get anywhere. I’d definitely recommend that as your primary mode of transport. You can purchase metro tickets in books of 10 from a Tabac or at the station, which is useful, but be careful where you put them because they are tiny!

The People

The people make a city in my opinion. The people of Paris are generally a pretty friendly lot – the streets are a lot less crowded and people walk more slowly than in London, which gives it a calmer and more relaxed vibe. Waiters were nearly always super friendly, smiley and willing to indulge my Franglais. I mentioned Paris was rather a safe city (which I think is something to do with everyone staying out so late, even little kids). It’s not a place you need to worry about getting mugged in, for example. But there is one crime to be aware of: pick pocketing.

There are a couple of things you can do to avoid falling prey to pick pocketers, tips I’m sure you’ll have heard before: do not leave your bag unattended – even if it’s on the floor by your feet or on your chair next to you, walk with your bag securely over your shoulder and with the zips turned towards your body, split your cash between your purse, the internal zip in your bag and pockets on yourself,  if you have any. All fairly common sense, right?

There are a lot of people selling things in Paris, so be aware for people approaching you. Most of these people are completely safe, so there’s no need to be scared of them – but it’s important to know who’s who.  I’ve made a little breakdown so you know who’s approaching you and who to avoid.

“Petition” girls:

This is the only group in my list you need to be  wary of. They approach you with a petition – usually for a deafness charity – and distract you with their clipboard whilst they, or an accomplice, relieve you of your valuables. These young gypsy women tend to roam in groups and target tourists – English speaking tourists particularly. They’re not at all hard to stay away from, and they hang out by big tourist destinations and say ‘speak English?’ before approaching. A simple ‘non merci’ will suffice and just keep on walkin’!

Street sellers:

You’ll know them as the guys armed with about forty large Eiffel Tower ornaments, hundreds of key rings and rolls of postcards in a sack. As our tour guide said ‘I’ve known a lot of these African guys for near on twenty years and they’re just trying to make an honest living’ – so there’s no need to be any warier of these guys than you would any other stranger – they’re a great source to purchase postcards (18 for a couple of euros!) and little souvenirs like key rings and gizmos , which they sell for cheaper than the tourist shops. The street sellers I encountered also happened to be super friendly and we had a nice chat about England. Lovely.

Bracelet guys:

Similar to the above, but they sell friendship bracelets instead of Eiffel Towers. I saw these guys in Montmartre as you approach the Sacre Coeur, which is a major tourist destination. Again, harmless – but there’s just one thing to be wary of – they ask you to stick your finger out and before you know it, they’ve slipped  a bracelet onto your hand (which they’re attached to) and you’re a captive market. It’s then a bit of a pain to un-bracelet yourself and move away.Our tour guide advised that if you don’t want a bracelet, just put your hand on your heart and say ‘non, merci’ as you walk on by.

I’d again like to reiterate – Paris is a safe city – I thought it was interesting to encounter these different types of people (and finding out about the petition scammers particularly piqued my interest). I chose to share this information because I found it fascinating and it’s always good to be prepared and aware.

The Food

Many people could wax lyrical here – but I’m not that clued up on food. I will say there’s more cafés and restaurants than you could imagine and they’re all pretty good! Sometimes the most famous ones aren’t the best and they come in a range of prices. If you eat and drink and the hotspots all time, you’ll be very poor. But even the poshest streets have a cheaper alternative – it’s worth checking out and comparing the prices before going in. Also, no trip to Paris is complete to me without eating baguettes (jambon et fromage, merci!), croissants, macarons (Laduree!), a chocolate and vanilla glace and, surprisingly, burgers. I had an excellent cheese and bacon burger at La Fontaine this time round- maybe I should add “eat a burger on every continent” to my bucket list?

Stay tuned for a day by day recap of the glorious time I had in Paris. I’m still buzzing! I have so many fun facts, lovely pictures and embarrassing moments to share.

Until next time,

Nikki

Packing for Paris

I am not a good packer.

I’m one of those people who wants to take everything with me.
‘What if I want to wear this skirt? But then I’d have to bring that jumper – and that would look great with those shoes!‘. God forbid my outfit doesn’t match. Before I know it, I’ve packed half my wardrobe for a weekend break. Oops.

This year I resolved to be more organised (and space conscious) for my trip to Paris. The thought of lugging a giant suitcase through Gare Du Nord didn’t thrill me at all!

Paris

I’ve been doing my homework on dressing for Paris, and it seems that the number one rule is ‘don’t look like a tourist‘. To avoid being sneered at, the advice is not to wear the following:

• Sneakers and sandals
• A lot of bright colours or patterns
• Athletic style clothing
• Jeans
• Short shorts

In other words: don’t dress down, dress up! The Parisian philosophy of dressing is sort of beautiful really; dress well, because you never know what the day might have in store for you, and you never know who you might meet. Isn’t that lovely? Of course, I can’t help but think Parisians do succumb to the odd bit of denim, and surely they wear sandals when it’s  hot? I suppose as long as you’re wearing nice jeans and sandals, you can get away with it?

A lot of people seem to over-emphasise the ‘Parisian women wear black’ stereotype, making it sound as though Paris is a city of walking mime artists and Goths. Definitely not! I think a safer rule is to stick with a handful of neutrals, complimented by a statement colour; i.e. mixing black, white, navy and grey with splashes of red. A great rule of thumb I heard somewhere was ‘stick to three colours per outfit’ – I quite like that one.

What to pack

I’m aiming to pack as cleverly as this. A handful of pieces you can mix and match (yes, I’ve added jeans, but they’re black and cropped – too Audrey-esque for anyone to complain I think) are key. A small set of colour-matching accessories, a selection of shoes that can take you from a tour around the Louvre to evening drinks in Le Chat Noir and a great lipstick are all you need to perfect your look. It doesn’t seem it, but you can actually create around 10 outfits from this modest set – how amazing!  I kept prints to a minimum, only adding stripes (how French) and the anchor print on the dress and shoes – polka dots and small florals would also look great!

Do remember to wear comfy clothes for travel – whether you’re going by plane, train or automobile. I’d advise wearing whatever you feel best in, whether that’s well-worn jeans or an old dress. I always feel more comfortable in a dress, so I’ll be packing a couple of Vintage Style Me smocks for the journey.

A trench coat/mac is the perfect lightweight jacket to stave off the rain, and it doesn’t  weigh a tonne like most coats. I’ll definitely be taking my new H&M one (which I managed to squeeze into the collage there!) unless the weather report says it will be super sunny all weekend!

If anyone else is planning a French getaway, I hope this helped. For everyone else, this hopefully made for an interesting read.

I’ll be saying Bonjour Paris on Friday, I’m so excited! For now, I’ll be watching this Funny Face clip.

Until next time,

Nikki