Travel Notecards

Sunday, 29 July 2012

Ines de la Fressange, Parisian Chic

Win a copy of the ultimate French Style Guide

The chic, elegant and stylish Parisian Ines de la Fressange has published her own style Guide, 'Parisian Chic'.

It's the ultimate Parisian bible to achieving the same apparent effortless chic that Ines de la Fressange is so famous for.

In it she divulges her favourite Parisian addresses, her health, wellness and beauty tips as well as guides to putting together the ultimate stylish wardrobe that will take you from morning to evening.

It's every woman or girl's ultimate style guide, and Travel Notecards is giving away a copy of this little red book to the 100th person to sign up to our blog from today onwards.

I can't wait to post it out to someone wherever you may be in the world.

Good luck :-))

(The winner will receive an email from Travelnotecards requesting a mailing address).

Millie x

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Friday, 13 July 2012

Paris; The summer that isn't

Summer activities are in full swing in Paris, however the weather has other ideas........a rainy Thursday......

Fete des Tuilleries

"I will be the gladdest thing under the sun! I will touch a hundred flowers and not pick one".
Edna St Vincent Millay (first female to be awarded a Pulitzer for Poetry).

Paris map

Millie x
© Copyright Millie Brown 2012

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Thursday, 12 July 2012

Les Halles de Lyon - Paul Bocuse, Lyon, France

Recently while spending a few days in Lyon, France we had the pleasure of visiting Les Halles de Lyon - Paul Bocuse, situated in the Part Dieu area (3rd arrondissement), and only a 10 minute trolley bus ride from the centre of the city.

This covered market is a food lovers paradise, and is a great way of experiencing the gastronomy that Lyon is so famous for (it's the market that pays homage to Lyon's most celebrated Chef, Paul Bocuse), you may even bump into him as he apparently shops here regularly.

We hit the market aisles on a quiet Sunday morning arriving around 9.30 and we practically had the place to ourselves (love that)! This meant plenty of time to sit with our croissant and coffee at the Café du Boulanger to start things off.

It wasn't until around 10 am that the locals started to filter in and by 10.05 some of them were already settling in at the oyster bar with their first glass of wine for the day (a touch early for me, but I can't say I wasn't a little tempted)!

The absolute highlight of this market is the visual display of food on offer, (there are close to 60 stalls) with the knockouts being the patisserie, chocolate and cheese stalls. The merchandising is glamourous and gorgeous and almost makes you too afraid to buy anything should you disturb the symmetry of all the gorgeousness!

Photograph taken from www.jérome-langillier.com

This stunning chocolate cake is the award winning 'Kaina' by Pattisier Jerome Langillier and winner of the 2009 World cup for cakes 'Gateau de la Coupe du Monde'

While our taste buds were enjoying the tea infused macarons at the divine Boutique Clostan our attention was drawn to the 'Kaina' (above), it truly is a divine looking chocolate cake, and is created by head patissièr from the Boutique Clostan, Jérome Langillier. I only wish I had had the opportunity to taste it and describe it to you. It consists of;

Croustillant chocolat

Pain de Gène chocolat

Crémeux chocolat noir et lacté avec une infusion citron vanille

Coulis exotique

Mousse chocolat grand cru Caraibe

(a LOT of chocolate in other words)!

Boutique Clostan (above)

No need to leave the market for lunch, with a choice between a typical Lyonnais bouchon, an oyster bar, numerous cafés and even a Spanish jamon bar!....and if you are still a bit peckish don't leave the market without having tried at least one of Lyon's sugary specialties; the Praline Tart, you can't miss it, it's bright red.

For another sugar hit on your way out grab some chocolates from Richart, one of France's most famous chocolate makers.

If you love and appreciate top quality produce as well as the beauty and elegance of French attention to detail then this market is for you.

Les Halles de Lyon

102 cours Lafayette

(open Tuesday - Sunday)

7am to 7pm

(closed between 12 & 3 pm)

Millie x

Friday, 6 July 2012

Menton, Cote d Azur

I have just jumped off the train after having spent a few hours wandering the gorgeous streets of Menton, a French town situated on the mediterranean and two steps from the Italian border. Its France and Italy all rolled into one, nothing not to like about that....

and it's made me feel moody and colourful....

Menton is famous for its sunshine....you see it hangs around and bathes the town in its golden rays for 316 days of the year, definitely my kind of place!

All this sunshine means that lemons and other citrus fruit adore to grow here. The lemon happens to be the town's symbol and even has its own Adam and Eve legend attached to it. (read about it here).

.... and in honour of the wonderful lemon, Menton hosts its very own lemon festival each year in February.

...but it's not just lemons and good weather that Menton is celebrated for, it's also well known for its magnificent gardens and festivals - two upcoming events are;

63rd Festival of Music

20 July to 5 August

Menton Ma Ville est Tango

3 to 16 July

Basically if its sunshine, lemons and Tango that you like, look no further and pen Menton in your diary!

Map of French Riviera

Thursday, 5 July 2012

Anjuna Plage Privée & Papaya Beach, Cote d Azur, France

The Cote d Azur, France, has many private beaches along its shoreline, and I'm a big fan!

However, when I say private, don't be thinking that you will be the only one enjoying the beach, far from it in fact...but you will at least be sharing it in comfort.

Want a sun bed... you got it, umbrella.....no problem, glass of rosé and something to munch on....only minutes away. Fancy a spot of water sport....take your pick!

Eze sur Mer is a small quiet beach situated on the Riviera between Cap Ferrat and Roquebrune-Cap-Martin. It has two private beaches to choose from, neither of them pretentious or precious, both have a relaxed and low key feel to them, and this is exactly what I love about them, (I am not your bling bling yacht type of girl)!

At Anjuna there is only one row of sunbeds, so there is nothing between you and the water (except for a few pebbles) and this means no stepping around anyone....you are literally 2 meters from the waters edge.

Note of caution; the pebbles on the seabed can get slippery, so to make your water entry a little more gracious wear some reef slippers (both my mother and father can attest to that)! Personally.... I find an ungracious entry much more fun to capture with the camera!

Love these faces from Plage Anjuna

The atmosphere and amenities of these two private beaches are not the only attributes I love; the creativity and thought that has gone into the decoration of each of them makes them quite special.

Anjuna Plage Privéè has a more eclectic slant to its decoration than Plage Papaya, and is re-decorated every year to co-incide with the start of the summer season.

Plage Papaya at Eze sur Mer beach

Anjuna Plage rent out sunbeds and umbrellas for half or full days during the week and full days only on the weekends.

Papaya Beach gives full day as well as half day rates for both weekends and weekdays. Bookings by phone or in person (not email).

Attention to detail at Papaya beach & Anjuna Plage

Parents, you can relax at both these beaches with a good sized swimming area under surveillance at all times and netting to protect bathers from jelly fish.

Both of these private beaches offer non stop food during the day, either on the beach or in the restaurant. If you can make it for dinner to Anjuna, its hard to top the setting....simply drop dead gorgeous, with no exageration! Good food and perfect service, the staff are a delight.

I haven't as yet dined at Papaya Beach so I can't comment on their food, except to say that the setting would undoubtedly be just as stunning, (situated only a matter of 20 metres from Anjuna Plage). I have however spent a great day on their beach.

(PS Dinner at Anjuna, my nephews highly recommend the beef burger with foie gras, served with fries).

Piece of Advice
If you are heading for a private beach on a weekend I recommend you make a quick telephone call and reserve your sunbeds in advance (the day before or the same morning).

So, if a quiet chill out day on a mediterranean beach is what you are after, you'll love this corner of the French riviera.

Millie x