Sorry I haven’t been around the past week or so. We got back from our Christmas holiday last weekend and have been settling back into our daily routine since then. Mind you, it feels a bit weird being here for Christmas. This is the first time we’ll be at home at this time of year for quite a long time. Because we weren’t able to spend actual Christmas with the in-laws this year, we decided to celebrate it a month early, and we had a fabulous time! Hubby and I were so spoilt (and we did a little spoiling too!) …
Christmas holiday gifts
During our early Christmas holiday, we were given some wonderful presents, including an Amazon Alexa which has been providing us with much hilarity lol! But I’ll tell you more about that another time. We also had a real giggle playing miniature pool (so much so, that we bought ourselves a table here at home and have been playing it all week!).
We didn’t just spend a few days with my in-laws though, we drove back to England, going through Spain and France to get the shortest ferry from Le Havre. And on our return, we took the channel tunnel which was amazing! We’ll definitely do that again. We just couldn’t believe how much easier, and quicker, it actually was.
France & Germany
After leaving England, we then drove through France, Belgium and Holland to get to Germany where we spent three fabulous nights before driving back to France where we stayed a few more nights before heading home. All in all, we really had a wonderful holiday – although it was much too short lol. We are so used to taking our Christmas holiday over a month, but couldn’t this time around, because of my work at the golf shop.
In Germany, we stayed in Michaelsburg, Rothenburg ob der Tauber and Freiburg. And all of them had Christmas markets going on which gave us that fantastic festive feeling. We were very impressed with Germany on the whole – particularly the fact that there aren’t really any speed limits on the motorways! I was suitably impressed at the driving over there. People were so respectful to everybody else on the roads. Completely different to what we saw in Belgium though lol! OMG, the driving was terrible! And then (oh dear), in Spain, we got our own speeding ticket (I hasten to add that hubby was driving!).
In France, we fell in love with the city of Bordeaux. What a beautiful place that is and the people were generally very warm and welcoming. It really was wonderful. My favourite place was this little shop that we just happened upon…
My kinda (gothic) gallery
It’s a little gallery by the most incredible artist. If I could be an artist, I would be her lol. It was just exactly my kinda style. I was totally in my element! And to make me even giddier, the artist had the most adorable tiny little dog with her too (see pic). If you love gothic style, then you must visit L’Epoque if you’re ever in Bordeaux. It was incredible!
We stayed in two marvellous chateaux whilst in France, one near Bordeaux and the other near Vichy (pictured below). The one near Vichy really blew us away. Its’ owner really made us feel incredibly welcome, and OMG, if I’d have styled it myself, I’d have done it in exactly the same way. It was just beautiful…
We’ve been obsessively watching Escape to the Chateau ever since lol! Do you watch it? It’s about a British couple who bought a French Chateau and have been renovating it ever since. It’s absolutely brilliant, and after staying in this one, it’s making us want our own French Chateau lol!!!
Anyway, I’ll leave it at that for now. I think I’ve gone on about our Christmas holiday long enough. Thanks for sticking around. See you next week!
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