Lanzarote the debrief

 

Well what a pleasant surprise, I have always shied away from the Canary Islands, ( usually for  hols in Africa), in fact in recent years I have shied away from the Balearics, and this is due to me loving mainland Spain, so a long weekend in Lanzarote has been a bit of an eye opener for me.

We were far enough away from the mad nightlife, to have peace and quiet, but close enough if we wanted to dip our toes in.

Weather was exceptional and that's a huge bonus for me

Atlantic  swimming is highly recommended.

Even though we were  close to the airport, the 99 flights a day never really bothered up, it was just interesting to see them come in nearly piggy backing each other.

No fighting over sunbeds here, there was plenty of room for everyone, and a seawater pool  too.

It was probably easier to tread in rocking horse poo, than find a Dry Martini, come on Lanzo, get with the programme!

Food in every restaurant I tried was exceptional.

Jazz Bistro  in Tias/Matagorda, exception, highly recommend the Chicken breast in port and mushroom sauce. Great location , 5 minutes stumble back to the villa.

Emmas Cantina in Puerto del Carmen great service, and great Mexican food.

Serenity, Puerto del Carmen, roof top dining and a great array of food to suit all. Perfect evening out.

O'Sheas Irish Pub , Tias/ Matagorda. You know what you will be offered and it was typical pub grub. Steve and I  had a roast dinner, which was great , lots of meat and good veg assortment. Service was very poor though, would not recommend in the height of summer.

Supermarkets were incredibly reasonable, and I do love a supermarket abroad.

I loved this break,  and have no doubt that I will be going back again.

And next time I will venture out to see more of the island.

Last day came too quickly

 

Well my mini break was over too quickly and as Tracey and I headed up to get me a taxi to the airport at 7.45am, I was close to turning round and going back to the villa, it was definitely going to be a scorcher.

We said bye and I was off to start my journey home, oh joy!! first thing I see when I get into the airport is that the Leeds/Bradford flight, delayed! I was through security in record time ( typical) and then decided to head to the loo, I was feeling quite tearful a it would have been my sisters birthday. A bit of a cry in private was just what I needed.

I had nearly made it through the door to the toilets, when I was stopped by a lady from the Lanzarote Tourist Board, asking me if I would fill in a survey, I politely said no and headed off for a blub. I emerge from the toilet cubicle , red eyed and ready to fix my make up, and I kid you not, she was waiting for me. 

She thrust a piece of paper and pen at me and said ' fill!'.

I looked at her and politely said 'no'.

She then followed me to the basins and said 'you must'.

By this point I was nearly on the verge of tears again. I told her in that I did not want to fill in a survey, I wanted to have a cup of coffee.

I escaped and went to the far end of departures, got a coffee and sat down to just soak up the chaos that was the airport.

Five minutes later she sat down opposite me and thrust the paper and pen at me again.

I was by this point rapidly losing my patience with her, I asked her why had to fill in this survey, she just kept repeating 'you must'.

Well very long story condensed. I got up and walked away I kept finding somewhere to hide from her, I watched her harassing other and chasing people up and down.

They called my flight and I headed to gate 9, closely followed by persistent Lanzarote woman. She was still thrusting the paper at me as I got my passport stamped and was trying to get through to the plane.

Not a great end to a fabulous few days.

Sadly the return flight seemed to be so much quicker  than the fight out, and I was back in Blighty in the blink of an eye.

And that's it for a few weeks at least.

More sun

 

Sunday dawned hazy and very warm, after a slow start all round, Steve and I headed out to the beach for our morning swim.

It was busy, it was Sunday, lovely to see families enjoying time together at the beach.

The sea was surprisingly warm and just what was needed to wash away the cobwebs of sleep.

We took a slow walk back to the hotel and headed to the pool. Tracey was going to go for water and then sort out the washing, I said (as keeper of the holiday kitty) I'd go for it.

Off I popped, got the water and then to my horror realised the kitty purse wasn't in my bag.

This purse also contained the electronic key to get into the compound. Oh my god! My dodgy heart nearly stopped.

I had my purse so paid for the water and then headed back to the pool. it wasn't under my lounger!!!!

I retraced my steps, it had been definitely been dropped inside the gate, because we'd got in. As I looked at my beach bag I realised how easily it could have slipped down the side between bag and beach cover up.

I asked a couple in a villa by the gates if they had seen it, she said no, however a lady  nearby said, 'its there on top of the fire extinguisher box, one of the work men found it".

I could not believe it, there it was completely intact. My faith in human nature restored and my heart rate returning to normal.

I had earlier in the holiday been honest at the bar over the cost of some drinks, she was going to under charge by €14  but I did say she'd made a mistake.

So what goes around does come around.

The rest of our day was spent laughing, sunbathing and have the odd 'Sex on the beach' or two.

My last evening saw us having a lovely stroll for dinner, watching the last of the daily 99 flights onto the island arrive. 

Families were still at the beach, enjoying the last rays of Sunday.

we ate and the had a slow meander back to the apartment and an early night all round.

Early morning dip

 Saturday dawned hazy and warm, Steve and I took ourselves off to the beach for an early morning dip.

We wandered through a little area with stone built creations, it was really lovely.

The beach was fairly deserted when we got there

 A couple of ladies 'saluting the sun' and a runner.

We headed off into the Atlantic.

Now I want to say it was bracing, but truth is it was warmer than the swimming pool!

A lady came in as we were making our exit.

We headed off to grab a coffee, I got waylaid by a 'Spar'.

Those of you who know me well, know how much I hate doing my shopping at home, but as soon as Im abroad I love a supermarket.

I could write a (very boring) book on my favourites in various countries. I can see that on The Times best seller list!!!!!

Steves favourite coffee shop was closed so we wandered back to the 'ranch'.

On the way we saw the lady who had been in the sea, she was with her husband, they acknowledged us in French.

Nothing strange there, but these two had come up with an ingenious idea. How to dry your towel.

They were walking up to their hotel holding the towel between them letting it blow in the breeze. Genius!!!!

Pooltime was now the order of the day until Tracey disappeared, we all got a text message summoning us for lunch!

Two grazing boards were on the dining room table when we got in. This was  part of Steves birthday celebrations  and very  good they were too.

Made locally by an English lady, very good idea!

We went back to the pool for more swimming and sunning, its a hard life!.

We were dressed and ready for dinner in record time as we're going to 'Sanctuary ' 

We were on the rooftop restaurant which also boasted, hot tubs and loungers.

The food was exceptional, my caprese ravioli with so good as was the creme caramel 

We sat watching  a 'million ' flights coming in, amazing how many there were, and then wandered down the strip, before getting into a taxi and heading home.

A bit of TV and bed time.

Day 2 on the windy Isle

 

After a very early night and a lovely much needed sleep, it was time to start the holiday properly.

After doing my 'chefy'thing and poaching eggs for breakfast, Tracey Steve and I headed out for more supplies, getting side tracked on the way by the lure of peppermint tea in the sun.

It was decided that this was a pool day, as probably all my days will be (and I'm good with that, lots off r and r).

A swim was on the menu and after lunch more swimming and sunbathing.

We were invited to join the last bingo session of the season .......and I won

Before we knew it, it was 6pm and we took our sun tortured bodies back to the villa, where quick showers and changed and off in a taxi to the harbour.

We headed off for a Mexican meal at Emma's cantina.

Wowsers it was good and finished off with a chocolate tequila.

We had a bit of a hairy taxi ride home, I am sure in all my days I've never been in a taxi that overtook 5 cars on a pitch black road  but hey, there's another tick on the 'things to do' box.

And with a fabulous moon shining down on us, bed was calling before I knew it.

And now day 3 begins

Off again

 

It always seems like a good idea to go on holiday, even just for a short break, but at 1am Thursday morning, I was not so sure.

I'd not had much sleep Tuesday into Wednesday due to wearing the 24hr ecg, so thought I'd at least get a couple of hours kip on Wednesday night. Ha, ha, said my brain (and also that of the rest of the crew), so taxi arrived at 2am and four very tired souls set off to Leeds Bradford.

Leeds airport is a little bit of a mess at the moment as they do major renovation but after the first sip of champagne in The Saltaire  bar, it was all forgotten.

Our flight boarded and we were on our way.

We were all desperate for sleep, but it was fairly illusive for all of us except Cathy.

We arrived in Lanzarote and 'oh joy' now not only do you queue to get your passport stamped you now queue to go through the electronic gates too.

Anyhoo long story, put to rest, we were in a taxi and short hop to  our home for 4 nights (11 nights for the others).

We decided to get changed and go and have lunch, and it went bit awry. 

They did cocktails, they didn't do Dry Martinis but they did 'sex on the beach' and boy did we go for it.

A nice afternoon swim to shake off tiredness was followed by heading to the villa and unpacking......not! Cava and hot tub.

We eventually decided to get ready to go out for dinner. And headed to Jazz Bistro, where the sliced chicken breast in port and mushroom sauce comes highly recommended by the 3 of us that had it.

A quick trip to the supermarket and a walk up the hill to the villa.

I had my face cleansed and nightie on before 9pm and was asleep before my head hit the pillow.

Musing over holiday spots

 

I spent my lunch today  reading a piece about 'The Paris Syndrome', it's where people see no more of France than the capitol city.

It lead me down a rabbit hole thinking about all the places I had visited in France and loved and Paris is not on this list.

So where do I rate.

Nantes,

A beautiful city in the West of France, 6th largest city in the country. There is  the restored Chateau des Ducs de Bretagne, which is steeped in history.

There are the remains of the Roman walls, from when they set up 'holiday homes' in the area ,a beautiful Gothic cathedral and the stunning LU  building ( I love their biscuits).

It is also about an hours drive to Puy du fou, which is absolutely amazing. 

Limoges

Situated in south west central France, this beautiful city is the home of porcelain and a Gothic Cathedral ( yes there is a recurring theme). 

The Gare de  Benedictins and Hotel De Ville are both stunning building and the 'little train ' tour around the city is worth the ride just to take in all the sights.

The gardens around the Cathedral are beautiful and you often find people having a 'pique-nique'.

The porcelain museum , was amazing, but that really is right up my 'rue'

Beauvais 

A town about 75km north of Paris and a world away from the  the whole Paris syndrome.

A gothic Cathedral ( that has collapsed more times than I've had hot dinners) is just one of the sights

 A tapestry museum, and  'Pompiers' museum are worth seeing. 

There are also war graves.

This is a beautiful little town and somewhere that I cannot wait to return to.

Le Touquet Paris Plage

I cannot even remember how many times I have been here, I love it very much It was built  really as a holiday resort for English people by John Whitley an English business man, during the 'roaring twenties' it grew and grew, boasting the biggest casino in France ( and the idea for Casino Royale, as Ian Fleming was a regular visitor)

The sand dunes see a lot of bike racing and there is often sand yachting down on the sea front.

The market and market place is great to visit as well as the open air swimming pool. I fell in love with this place in the late 80's and it has never lost its shine in my eyes.

Reims

One of the most popular cities in the Marne, which I expect has a lot to do with the production of bubbles.

It was also as popular in Roman times, of which there is much evidence.

The beautiful gothic Cathedral ( yep another one, and a stunner) is worth a visit. 

And it wouldn't be a visit without tasting the fabulous  biscuit rose de Reims ( a twice baked biscuit often dipped in a glass of champagne).

The pedestrian  centre is ideal for lunches with a few drinkies, if like me you stay in a hotel along there too.

From here you can visit so many wonderful champagne houses both  well known and small producers, ( usually superior to mass produced) 

Epernay

Famous for its 'Avenue de Champagne' this town is worth a visit just to have a wander. The champagne was stored in the cellars that were built into the rock that the town was built on.

Also lesser known for sugar production and also hat making.

Whilst in the Champagne region, Dizy and Bouzy are worth a visit ( if only for photo op). 

Troyes still has its medieval half timbered houses and is a lovely place to visit.

The whole region has hidden gems.

The South of France.

Some parts of the SoF are not my cup of tea as like Paris you have the St Tropez, Nice, syndrome. However  Marseilles is a must visit. a melting pot of Franco/Arab living, it has surprise after surprise. The Eden Theatre between Marseilles and Toulon is regarded as the oldest cinema in the world.

Biarritz

An elegant seaside town in the south west of France, which was the holiday spot of European Royalty in the 1800's

There is a seafront casino ( if that's your thing), all very old glamour

It is a great spot to imagine what  life must have been like back then.

 A place I must get back to.

Oh I got lost in my love of France and forgot all about Calais ( not just a ferry stop off), Honfleur, Deauville ( old school glamour). Stella Plage ( lovely seaside town)

Mont St Michel which is 'my place'.

 Vire in Calvados, a lovely town which was heavily bombed by the British during WWII

Garron in Mayenne, a small town but worth an overnight stay.

I could go on ( and on and on), but this was really just to hint that there are some amazing places to visit in France. Go to Paris once and then travel and see other places.

I love France.......................

..and am now looking to book a holiday there soon.