Two years ago this month I travelled to Paris with University thinking that it will be the start of many more European adventures. Little did I know that a month later the pandemic would change quite a lot of things but we aren’t reflecting on that part. I thought it is about time I shared my trip to Paris and why I want to go back so badly!
We travelled to Paris via the train and Eurostar on the 11th February. I’ve never been on the Eurostar before but I found it quite comfortable and it didn’t feel as though it took as long as what it did. I spent the majority of the journey playing on my Nintendo Switch just to entertain me a little bit. We stayed at St Christopher’s Inn which wasn’t too far from the centre of Paris I believe. I shared my room with Chloe, Isabelle and Maxx but we all had such a good time. On the first night, we didn’t adventure too far but we did experience a very expensive McDonald’s. I couldn’t get over how busy it was especially so late at night but I suppose that’s because I’m not used to living in the city centre or a capital.
The first day we could do whatever we fancied so we each picked something that we wanted to do and off we went. We were the last out of the hostel from our group so we managed to hunt down the metro station and work out not only how to buy a set of tickets but how to navigate to where we wanted to be all by ourselves. I know, call us independent! Let’s just ignore the fact it took us nearly 45 minutes to understand the systems but we got there in the end.
First up was the Louvre Museum but before that we decided to get breakfast at a lovely little café called Le Café Marly. We had a selection of pastries, hot chocolate and fresh orange juice to fill us up before heading into the museum. Obviously, the Louvre is well known for the Monna Lisa which I would have loved to have seen properly but the queue was so long just to get a photo. We opted for taking a glance from the sidelines and reading about the painting on an infographic stand instead. I knew that the museum was big but I didn’t expect it to have so many paintings and statues. I was amazed by it all and felt a little bit overwhelmed but it was incredible! I’m pretty sure I didn’t even get to see everything that was there either which is one of the many reasons I would love to go back to Paris.
After we left the Louvre Museum, we down towards Champs-Elysées which is an iconic street with plenty of high street shops and designer stores such as Gucci, Louis Vuitton and Adidas. We did a little bit of retail therapy before heading towards the Eiffel Tower. Gucci had some stunning displays that I felt a little bit under dressed walking round in a pair of jeans, Converse and a denim jacket. Adidas really did impress me; some of their displays included plus-size models which made the store feel size inclusive something that I have never seen in the UK. As soon as I saw the Eiffel Tower I was in awe and that was without seeing it at night when it was lit up and sparkled with lights every hour. It was spectacular! I wish we had enough time to have travelled up it but unfortunately we didn’t and everyone who I was with wasn’t too keen on how high it would have been.
We ended the first night with a chilled trip back to the hostel and having dinner at a restaurant near the closest metro station. One thing that I quickly realised when in Paris that 90% of places to eat are called café so I found it very confusing figuring out where we had actually eaten on this trip. I do know that the cheese burger tasted amazing though!
The second day was the main reason for the trip. We headed off to Premiére Vision. This is an exhibition that brings together creative suppliers and buyers globally. The idea is so that all the players within raw materials and services can effectively assist fashion professionals to develop their collections by providing forward thinking analysis of evolving trends and market conditions. There were talks and so many stalls in a range of halls to explore. There was: Manufacturing, Leather, Accessories, Jewel Focus, Designs, Sport and Tech, Textiles, Fabric Selections, S/S21 Perspectives and Tradeshow for Fashion.
I spoke to a lovely guy who works for Polygiene who explained that their aims are to create technology clothing to help clothes stay fresh and odour free for longer. Did you know that two thirds of the environmental impact of apparel occurs during consumer use? We use 65% CO2 gases, 73% energy consumption and 54% water just to wash our clothes! As of February 2020, they have worked with a range of brands including Adidas, Millet, The North Face and Champion to name a few. I went round the exhibition with Abbie, from the year above me, and Ulli, another girl studying Fashion. It was such a lovely day and I left Premiére Vision feeling so inspired and even more in love with my course and what I was studying to be involved with.
After we got back to the hostel, we headed out for dinner on our last night. Just so we could see the Eiffel Tower one last time, we found a restaurant called Le Tribeca that catered to all of our needs. Chloe and I shared a baked Camembert and had a glass of red wine for starters. I felt very French! When we got back to the hostel, most of our group headed downstairs to the bar for a drink and a bit of a boogie. It was actually really enjoyable although I did feel a bit sorry for myself the following morning.
It was travel day again on the Friday and we finished our little Paris trip off with pancakes or crêpes as the French like to call it. I chose Chocolate and Banana which tasted divine! Before getting the Eurostar back to London, I picked up some macaroons for the journey home.
Overall my time in Paris was most definitely the best education trip that I have been on. My tutors, Freya and Marissa, had done a really good job organising it all and the girls who I had spent my time with made the trip extremely enjoyable with lots of memories to cherish. I hope I can go back to Paris soon so I can enjoy seeing some more of the different sights that the city has to offer.
Have you ever been to Paris before? What European city shall I travel to next?
♥
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I’ve been to Manchester a fair few times now and every time I go I fall even more in love with the city. People who I speak to have described the place as ‘the northern hub for creatives’ and I couldn’t agree more. No wonder I plan on moving there after I’ve finished my degree! There’s so many cool places to visit and explore and there is also a wide choice of places to hang out and eat that is guaranteed to step up your Instagram feed. Anyway after another week down in Manny, I thought it is about time to share some of my personal favourites.
Places To Eat
There are so many great places to eat around Manchester so it was pretty hard to narrow it down to a few places but here comes my personal faves. Firstly you can’t go to the city without having a browse around the Northern Quarter. My first option is BABthat is known for its kebabs and unfortunately I’m not talking about those greasy ones you get at 3am down the Big Market in Newcastle. I am talking mouth-watering kebabs that makes me want to book a train down to Manchester just for another visit. I usually get the Halloumi kebab which has a delicious sun-blushed tomato and harissa purée. If you are into fries then I highly recommend the Greek Fries. They are topped with feta cheese, olives, tzatziki and chilli sauce (I remove this cause I’m not a fan of spicy food). Wilson’s Social is another recommendation if you are into Latin American style food. I went for a flatbread with stir-fried veg and again it tasted amazing but the star of the show was the pudding. Not only do they have pistachio and coconut ice cream available but the melt in the middle chocolate pudding was heavenly. They have a bar and outside sitting which makes for a great social night and if you are a not a big fan of alcoholic drinks I’ve got you covered. I had a Hibiscus Juice Drink which tasted delicious.
If you follow me on social media then you know that I spent a lot of time eating alone and some times McDonald’s just wasn’t cutting it so I popped along to Archie’s Diner one evening. They are similar to Five Guys where it is like an old school American Diner environment. I had the Faloumi Burger with curly fries. It tasted so good!! They have such a hype on social media because they offer a BLK bun or a Pink one with any of the burgers. There are also a wide range of Waffles, similar to the oh-so-famous Creams, and milkshakes to choose from as well.
There are so many amazing things you can do in Manchester city centre that I could be here for hours sharing my thoughts but I am going to do my best to narrow it down. The first place I recommend is heading to the City Library and walk up to the first floor. You will come across a beautiful room designed for students, professionals or if you just want to go have a read of a book with nothing to disturb you. The architecture within the room is outstanding but I highly recommend taking some time out to explore all of the floors in the library. When I went they actually had an exhibition on with photos of Barbie and Ken protesting. Before you leave, spend some time speaking to the tourist information advisors. They have A3 foldable maps that are super useful if you are visiting for a couple of days and want to plan a whole load of different things to do. If you tell them what you enjoy doing and whether you want free stuff or have a bit of a budget then they can recommend a range of different things to do.
Of course you have the Arndale Centre for your usual high street shops but I would recommend an afternoon browsing the Northern Quarter. Not only do they have some amazing places to eat but they have some unique shops to walk around. If you are into second hand fashion then get yourself along to We Are Cow(they even have a store near Piccadilly Gardens now), a kitsch gift shop option is Oklahomaand Fred Aldousif you are into the arts and crafts. Affleck’sis a cool, indie shopping centre in the middle of the Northern Quarter where there are loads of different little shops that sell a range of clothes, jewellery, accessories, prints and retro games.
HATCHis like Manchester’s answer to the STACK that has opened up in Newcastle. There are so many little stores worth taking a look into. You can have a drink and food whilst you’re there too. It’s like an evening in itself!
Another place you could go is a place down next to Castlefield called HOME. It’s a place for lovers of contemporary theatre, film, art and music. There is always something exciting going on. Whilst I was down in Manchester, I saw Blinded By The Light which is an amazing film about a student called Javed who falls in love with Bruce Springsteen’s music and dreams of becoming a writer. I don’t want to mention too much because I don’t want to spoil it but it is definitely worth watching. There is a café and a restaurant with the prices being affordable for students and people on a budget too.
Whilst you are in the Deansgate area I would also recommend having a game or two of crazy golf at Junkyard Golf Club. They have three different courses to choose from (or you could just do all three). I went for the Bozo one which is a dark circus and fairground. They also have retro cocktails that taste amazing!
There’s a number of free things to do whilst in Manchester too including: the Science & Industry Museum, People’s History Museum, visiting the Royal Exchange Theatre and John Ryland’s Library. If you like a good night out then there are plenty of areas to go for a drink including Deansgate, Canal Street and as mentioned previously, the Northern Quarter. Even the Odeon cinema gives you Stranger Things 3 vibes…
Do you love Manchester? Have you been to any of these places? Is there anywhere I should add to my list for my next visit?
♥
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Bellingham is one of the few places where I can go to relax. I’ve spent many childhood, Summer weekends away exploring the area and going on ‘adventures’ along Hareshaw Linn or like 8yr old Yasmina likes to call it, the big waterfall. I’ve been spending a lot of time stressing over little things and university deadlines lately so it was nice to spend some time away to concentrate on my mental wellbeing.
The Riverdale Hall Hotel kindly offered me a two night stay* which I was super grateful for. Set in the picturesque landscape of Northumberland and just an hour away from Newcastle City Centre, it’s the perfect place for a staycation if you are requiring a getaway for the weekend. I used to go when I was younger for dinner and a swim so it the whole trip brought back many happy memories.
The service I received when I arrived went above and beyond and this continued throughout the stay. Even at breakfast, the waitress was smiley, helpful and went out of her way to provide the best service we could have. The room that I had looked over the massive garden and was just so beautiful and relaxing. The bed itself was so comfortable and I had the best sleep there that I’ve had in a long time, definitely a much needed rest. Each of the rooms looked grand and rather luxurious, with clean towels and bed sheets provided every day, complimentary biscuits, tea and coffee for the morning, a TV if you wanted to relax and room service was available too. My room had a shower and marble bathroom which was very picturesque however some of the rooms do have a bath in them. It was lovely to overlook the lovely view in the morning and just relax a little bit.
As I mentioned before, the swimming pool was one of the reasons why I enjoyed The Riverdale Hall Hotel so much. It has a sauna which is super relaxing and the pool itself is not too cold or too warm. It’s not so deep either. When I was in there, children were having swimming lessons from an instructor which was adorable to watch.
Bellingham is an idyllic and rather cute little village set in the Northumberland countryside. It has a couple of pubs and B&Bs, a caravan park and a camping site with a few little shops available to you. The bakery used to be one of my favourite places to pop into mainly because of the old fashioned sweets so I was super happy to pick a handful of rhubarb and custards before heading back home. The other place that I really enjoyed when I was younger was a good old Sunday dinner at The Cheviot so you can probably guess where dinner was for both of the evenings. Since I last went, the pub had changed hands however that meant there was a lot more choice. You had a range of dishes including: Hunter’s Chicken, Fish & Chips, Madras Curry, Stir Fry and Burgers with flavours from around the world. The puddings were out of this world as well.
The little village is 9 miles away from Kielder Forest and Water which is a lovely day out for families and explorers alike. If you have followed my social media for a while you may remember when I went up to see the Kielder Observatory which I highly recommend doing if you can. The volunteers are all so knowledgable and relaxed with you asking questions too.
Overall, I have had a lovely time at The Riverdale Hall Hotel and came away feeling recharged and ready for the final push of the first year. Even if you are unable to stay for the night, I would definitely recommend taking a trip for a dinner and a free swim in the pool just so you can have the astonishing service delivered to you as well.
♥
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Despite having tonsillitis this week, I didn’t want it to affect my Edinburgh trip with the college. We left bright and early on Tuesday morning to spend the day in one of my favourite cities. Although I was only there for 5hrs; Christina and I managed to fit in quite a lot of things.
We decided to take a look round the Scottish National Gallery whilst we decided what we fancied doing for the rest of the day. There was some beautiful and rather stunning paintings that is worth looking at. It’s always one of the first things that come up in the search engine for Edinburgh and I can understand why. Not a lot of the tourist attractions is free in Edinburgh, however, the National Gallery is free to walk around all the different rooms.
After having a walk round the Gallery, we had a look round all the tacky touristy shops and popped into M&S for a quick lunch. I picked up some of those rubber ‘I ♥ Scotland’ bands, a sheep and a flag. I’ve renamed the sheep Baa which I think is hilarious.
One of the main reasons, I was super excited for this trip is because I’ve wanted to go to Edinburgh’s Camera Obscura & World of Illusions for the longest time and I finally managed to do it! You do have to pay a bit of money to go into it but it’s the best thing ever and it is so interactive for all ages, not just the children. It’s best to start at the top and work your way down which is exactly what we did. We went to the Camera Obscura Show first which was ran by a rather funny guy called Dougal, I loved how interactive he was with visitors! It’s a dark room with a large table and a beam of light. Edinburgh appears on the table and you can have a look round the whole of the city in real time. You can even scoop the people up using white pieces of card and splat them back down on the the table!
You can view panoramic views of Edinburgh when you go outside and even grab a telescope or pair of binoculars to get a closer look around Edinburgh and its famous sites. The rest of the attraction was packed full of classic illusions and experiments, light fantastic visuals, mirror mazes, a light tunnel, view cams of the city and, of course, a gift shop. I highly recommend a visit just for a good laugh for an hour or two because it was honestly one of the best things I’ve done. There are so many more pictures over on my Instagram.
We didn’t have much time left after the Camera Obscura but we decided to walk into the Old Town of Edinburgh and stumbled across a street full of Harry Potter inspired shops including the Museum Context which is filled to the brim of fully licensed Harry Potter merchandise. There was even an opportunity to pretend to be a witch or wizard at the very top. Before heading back to the coach, we popped into a rustic pub called Biddy Mulligans for a drink.
Have you ever been to the Camera Obscura? What’s your top places to visit in Edinburgh?
♥
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This time last week I spent 24hrs in Keswick as part of my cousin’s birthday. Although it wasn’t long, it was definitely a much needed break after a stressful Summer with lots of ups and downs. I also took the time away to stay off social media a little bit which did me the world of good.
We arrived in the early afternoon on Friday to Low Briery which is a holiday park with a mixture of caravans and log cabins to cottages and apartments. We stayed in one of the cottages which was very cute and cosy especially over looking the river. For dinner, we went to Lakeland Spice Cuisine. I went for a cheese omelette because I’m not really an Indians fan but it was nice never the less.
Saturday marked my cousins birthday but the one thing I wanted to do was go and watch the sunrise which didn’t really happen because it was too cloudy. I got up with my Aunt and we went down to Derwent Lake with the dogs. Although it was cloudy and I didn’t get to see the sunrise, it was nice to spend some quality time with her. Before heading back to the cottage, we stopped by the Co-op and picked up some pastries for breakfast – best idea ever!
The art student inside of me fancied spending some time at the Derwent Pencil Museum which to a lot of you reading this probably sounds so boring but I really enjoyed it. I got to learn about the history of the graphite pencil as well as how coloured pencils were made. I bet you didn’t know that the longest pencil is 7.91m long and is surprisingly yellow! Before I left, we went on a boat trip around Keswick. It made for some beautiful snapshots from my camera too. I definitely want to go back to Low Briery and spend some time in those camping pods as well as explore the area a little bit more with my camera.
Have you been to the pencil museum before? What’s your favourite little town in the Lake District?
♥
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Back in the day I used to do a lot of weekend trips and whilst some things haven’t changed, such as my Mermaid Suitcase from Matalan’s holiday shop, quite a lot of my other travel essentials have. I thought it is about time I shared my new essentials with you as I’ve just returned from spending a couple of days with my sister.
I used to talk a lot about how my headphones was one of the most important things but that was when I used to travel anywhere between three hours on a train to eight hours on a coach. Nowadays, they are still a must have but they aren’t as important as before. I sometimes listen to music with them to help me fall asleep but more times than not they just stay in my bag. The iPod has waved goodbye and I rely on my phone for music as it can connect to my car. There’s nothing I love more than a good old car journey blasting all your favourite songs.
As far as beauty and skincare is concerned, I do keep a couple of things with me at all times. Hand sanitiser – I don’t think I really need to talk about the why so let’s move on. Next up is some form of hand cream. It’s perfect for keeping my hands soft and nourished and the Balade En Provence Hand Cream in particular keeps my dry skin and eczema away too. I always have some form of lip balm stored in my bag as well. I’ve been loving the Crazy Rumours again and they are brilliant to use in the Winter if you tend to deal with cracked lips. Lastly, is a bottle of the Snow Fairy Body Spray. This stuff is AMAZING! Every time I am out and about someone asks me what perfume I have put on and it is always this. Definitely one of my travel essentials!
My travel anxiety has definitely improved, however, it is still there. Any fidget toys that I have got to hand really helps. I think just having something to fiddle with takes my mind off everything around me and it makes me feel less anxious. I always carry a fidget cube with me and then I usually attach a pop it keyring to my car keys.
If I am travelling solo then I usually take a couple of extra bits with me including something to read whether it is a magazine or a good book, a bath bomb or bubble bar but this depends on whether I am staying in accommodation that has a bath, my thoughts journal so I can write anything that is keeping me awake down and my camera if it is somewhere I want to blog about or to capture the special moments.
The only thing left to do now is grab my sunglasses and decide where to travel to next. What are your travel essentials for a weekend away? Are any of them the same as mine?
♥
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Bellingham is one of the few places where I can go to relax. I’ve spent many childhood, Summer weekends away exploring the area and going on ‘adventures’ along Hareshaw Linn or like 8yr old Yasmina likes to call it, the big waterfall. I’ve been spending a lot of time stressing over little things and university deadlines lately so it was nice to spend some time away to concentrate on my mental wellbeing.
Bellingham is an idyllic and rather cute little village set in the Northumberland countryside. It has a couple of pubs and B&Bs, a caravan park and a camping site with a few little shops available to you. The bakery used to be one of my favourite places to pop into mainly because of the old fashioned sweets so I was super happy to pick a handful of rhubarb and custards before heading back home. The other place that I really enjoyed when I was younger was a good old Sunday dinner at The Cheviot so you can probably guess where dinner was for both of the evenings. Since I last went, the pub had changed hands however that meant there was a lot more choice. You had a range of dishes including: Hunter’s Chicken, Fish & Chips, Madras Curry, Stir Fry and Burgers with flavours from around the world. The puddings were out of this world as well.
Overall, I have had a lovely time at 
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