Western Europe

During my stay at Airelles, Le Grand Contr?le, a hotel within the grounds of The Palace of Versailles, I was so privileged to be able to go on an after hours tour of The King’s Apartments within the Palace. The Palace’s history is inextricably linked with Louis XIV. Although the location existed for centuries before […]

It’s nearly Christmas again and I’m not quite sure how another year has gone by. Christmas is one of my favourite times of year, and as always my last post before the main event is a little bit of festive, little bit of reflection. I’d planned a couple of Christmassy trips prior to the big […]

Liechtenstein is the sixth smallest country in the world, and is the second least visited country in Europe (behind only Moldova). Most people seem to just look over it or don’t even know it exists which is a shame because Liechtenstein is actually a very beautiful country with a lot of greenery, forests and castles. […]

Today’s post is another destination which I forgot to write up at the time -beautiful Knaresborough, which I visited during my 2022 trip to Yorkshire. The town lies around 30 minutes outside the centre of York and close to towns such as Harrogate and Ripon. It’s the perfect day trip option when in Yorkshire with […]

Lausanne is known as the Olympic Capital of the world, and that was the main reason for my visit. In 1996, at 7 years old, I was captivated. Michael Johnson was lining up in the 200m final in his golden shoes going for his second gold medal of the Atlanta games. I made fake medals […]

I’m a reluctant ‘Fenny’. When I moved to this area of Cambridgeshire, the flat, open Fenland felt stark and particularly bleak in winter. The land is completely flat and regimented, with straight drainage channels and hedgerows, largely used for agriculture. Roads run along drainage channels and rivers, looking out over an expanse of sameness, and […]

I love a good day trip, and in Switzerand they are super easy given the country is relatively small and has an amazing train network. Whilst staying in Geneva as a base, we decided to spend the day visiting Nyon, a small and picturesque town on the north eastern side of the lake. How to get to […]