CINQUE TERRE – FIVE LANDS IN THREE DAYS
The church bells strike 8am as the hint of an orange glow from the morning sun rises over the colourful and ancient fisherman village of Riomaggiore. Quite late I know, but that’s CINQUE TERRE in October! MB (Monsieur Bleu) and I had been discussing taking a trip to this popular and scenic part of Italy […]
AIRBNB EXPERIENCES…THE GOOD, THE BAD & THE DOWNRIGHT BIZARRE!
Airbnb is all the rage now in rental holiday accommodation and is THE go-to for many travellers today. The need to ‘feel at home’ whilst ‘away from home’ is tantamount to a relaxing vacation of any kind and this is what Airbnb offers! Of course, hotel stays are still a very popular choice for many jet setters as star ratings, well […]
MY-THAI (leftover)BEEF SALAD
Here in Madagascar, not all ingredients for certain dishes are readily available at all times. That’s just the way it is in poorer countries, so of course, creativity and spontaneity are called upon when ‘one’ is craving a specific cuisine! My go to food is always Thai, as the flavours and spice do wonders for […]
RENOVATING A PETIT PIECE OF NICE! 28 Days to make this house our Home
RENOVATE verb: do up (informal), modernise, redecorate, refurbish, rejuvenate, remodel, restore,revamp…update. As you can see, renovate is a complex word. Don’t get too excited, there was a lot to do, but completely gutting and re-modelling the place à la THE BLOCK (Australia) is not what occurred! I’m not going to brag that we pulled off […]
TO BUY OR NOT TO BUY? That was the question! The ordeals of searching for the Ultimate Apartment in Nice
So we have (finally) bought an apartment in Nice, France! But this was not, however, a feat that was accomplished easily or quickly! MB (Monsieur Bleu) and I had spent many years (eight to be exact), getting whiplash from craning our necks upwards searching for À Vendre (for sale) signs carelessly attached to miniature Niçoise […]
A WEEKEND AT LA CIGALE, FOULPOINTE MADAGASCAR
A mere 45 kms and an approximate 1.5 hour drive from Tamatave or Toamasina (give or take a few minutes due to some ‘interesting’ roads) lies an absolute GEM of a place called LA CIGALE, in FOULPOINTE. Foulpointe (pronounced full point) or Mahavelona, is the closest ‘beach bum’ destination from the main city centre and offers 20kms of unadulterated sand as far as the eye can […]
DAY ‘FRIP’ IN! – THE JOYS OF SECOND HAND CLOTHES SHOPPING IN MADAGASCAR
What the hell is a FRIP I hear you ask! Well, simply put, a FRIPERIE in French, means a second hand clothing store…a charity shop to you and I… but the money here, doesn’t go to a particularcharity like the Red Cross or St Vincent de Paul, but directly into the pockets of the poor […]
MISSMOVEALOT IN MADAGASCAR
Two weeks down and so much to say! Who would have thought that the 4th time around tackling this huge and exotic island would present itself with as much gusto as I have encountered! Apart from atrocious weather, (torrential rain bursts every hour or so), it has now cleared to be the sun soaked, palm […]
OUR BIG FAT GREEK ISLAND ESCAPE! PART 3, THE FINAL CHAPTER…MYKONOS
MYKONOS GREECE…eat, seek, ride, repeat! The last island in our Big Fat Greek Island Escape trilogy just HAD to be Mykonos and I don’t think it’s right to visit this Aegean archipelago and not include a trip around this iconic island haven! MB (Monsieur Bleu) and I were gradually making our way back to Athens […]
OUR BIG FAT GREEK ISLAND ESCAPE! PART 2 – PAROS
PAUSING IN PAROS (A slice of Paradise) After our sun and fun infused trip around glorious Santorini, MB (Monsieur Bleu) and I decided to take a ferry ride over to the smaller and more intimate island of Paros. Having entertained the idea (many moons ago) of purchasing a small beach house there to renovate, we […]