Betws-y-Coed & Plas Cadnant

Aren't these the prettiest flowers?! I'm so happy that Spring finally feels like it's here and although the photos I'm sharing with you are from early April and Spring definitely wasn't around much, I couldn't help but have some bright flowers as my first photo :)

When we visited Jason's family for a few days in North Wales before driving the Capri back to France, Jason's mum planned a few things to do outdoors. She remembered how much Jason and I love Betws-y-Coed anytime of the year so we spent a couple of hours over there. We also visited the beautiful garden in Plas Cadnant (which was almost empty!). More photos below!

It was so nice to be back there, even for just a couple of hours, and I enjoyed walking along the same footpaths Jason and I used to take all the time. Jason's brother and his girlfriend were with us too so it was lovely to have some quality time all together.

We stopped at our favourite café the Alpine Coffee Shop where I had a delicious Welsh Rarebit (posh cheese on toast) with bacon and Jason had yet another burger. It's just his favourite food, along with pizza, so what can you do? The moment he sees it on the menu, he has to have it ;)

The day after we explored the hidden gardens at Plas Cadnant just me, Jason and his mum. There wasn't many people around, probably because the weather wasn't the best, and it was actually very refreshing and relaxing to be almost on our own. I was stopping every few minutes, camera in hand, taking photos of all the colourful flowers I could find. The place made me think of a smaller version of Bodnant Garden but in Menai Bridge! The tickets felt a bit expensive knowing that the gardens are not that big but we still had a great time :)

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What I miss & don't miss from the UK!

Those of you who’ve been following my blog for a while will know that I used to live in North Wales, which I think is one of the best parts of the world. After living there for more than 5 years, I came back last Christmas (stealing my boyfriend Jason from his family!), and after a short time staying at my parents around Nantes, we moved to Bretagne for a calmer, simpler life in April.

It’s really funny because I remember a conversation that I had with my friends Laura & Ben (hello there, hope you’re reading this post!) a few years back, finding it hard to find anything that was better in the UK than in France. I guess I didn’t experience the British life enough at that point, and also, now that I’m back in the country I was born with more of a grown-up point of view, I have to say I was definitely wrong in many points!

So just for fun, I thought I’d do a little list of things I miss from the UK, and obviously, others that I really don’t miss. Don’t take it too seriously as this is only my point of view. No country is perfect, and I’m only sharing my own experiences, but hopefully it’ll be quite interesting and fun to read!

Things I miss from the UK:

• The food shows, travel documentaries and Sunday Brunch. Don’t get me wrong, French TV is not the worst and I can definitely find some good food and travel shows, but come on, the UK is doing it way better! You can’t beat The Great British Bake Off, which I watched religiously, or the 3h long Sunday Brunch show that I could not wait to watch every weekend. Although in France they’re showing more movies on the regular channels, which is great, I miss these fun, inspiring, jaw-dropping shows that we used to watch in the UK. Little side note here: I’m NOT talking about British daytime TV! That stuff is the WORST!
• How easy the paperwork is over there. Jason has a saying for that: ‘One piece of paperwork in the UK would be 10 in France’. And it’s so very true. Everything is crazy in France. There are so many organisations and companies that you need to sort things out with, and they NEVER communicate between each other. Plus, they seem to complicate everything just for the hell of it! We’ve had proper nightmares with the French paperwork that we didn’t have at all in the UK. Both of us being freelance didn’t help much though!
• Shops like Home Bargains, TK Maxx and B&M. In France, or at least in Bretagne anyway, the only similar shop we have is Stokomani and it’s not that great. Food and shopping in general is definitely more expensive over here and we can’t find all the good bargains and cheaper basic stuff like we used to.
• A good old fish & chips from time to time. As I said, food is more expensive in France, but you’re also getting better, fresher food so it balances it out in the end. But there are dishes and restaurants I definitely miss from where I used to live. I miss the burgers and mac & cheese at Hickory’s and the deals at Marks & Spencer where you could get a high quality meal for two for only £10. And I almost forgot to mention the amazing choices of granola, muesli and healthy cereals that they have in the UK. In France there’s almost no choice at all! The variety of food in the UK is amazing, but the quality is not always there though.
• British courtesy and politeness. Yes, I do miss it. People are so much more polite in general in North Wales and even though you get some rough, grumpy people everywhere, I always felt that Welsh people were nicer, polite and people actually smiled at you for no particular reason sometimes. In France, most of the time, if you smile at somebody in the shop, they’ll look at you like you’re crazy or they won’t even pay attention. Don’t know which one is worse! Oh and French people never say sorry.
• Food festivals in North Wales during Autumn and Winter! We used to go to loads from September all the way up to Christmas. The atmosphere was always amazing, we would taste delicious food, watch great cooks baking in front of us and we always leave with something very tasty and locally made.

Things I don’t miss from the UK:

• Obviously the weather, particularly because I was living in North Wales! I remember a year where it was grey or raining every bloody day for the whole summer and I was DEPRESSED. But then you do get use to it, and go out and about even if it’s cold or raining because otherwise you wouldn’t do much if you’re waiting for sunny and hot weather before going out of your house. Also, the mountains in Wales actually look very dramatic and moody with bad weather so it does have a certain charm. But still, I ain't made for cold temperatures and rain!
• The expensive council tax. I’d say that the rent costs are very similar between both countries depending on where you live. If you’re in more of a rural place, you will pay less per month, and our rent in the UK wasn’t crazy, however, £100 on top every month for council tax was too much and you really don’t pay as much in France. But again, maybe it was because of the area we were living in :)
• And whilst we’re at it, the rows of cheap post-war houses with very thin walls and rubbish insulation. I loved the house we were renting out in Glan Conwy, but you could hear everything that the neighbours were saying and the insulation was almost non-existent.
• The typical British food that is boiled most of the time with some gravy on top of it. I never managed to enjoy it! However, I would be happy with a very good roast dinner if it’s really well done. Oh and I HATE margarine and their ‘baguettes’ that had nothing to do with a real baguette!
• Expensive car parks. I honestly don’t remember not paying for parking somewhere except for shops in the UK. And it’s super expensive! Whilst in Bretagne and around Nantes, in the space of 9 months, we’ve only paid 3 times for parking. Once in the city centre of Nantes, and twice in the city centre of Vannes. Any other places that we’ve visited, beaches, small towns, parks, galleries, landmarks, etc. parking was free. So refreshing!
• And last but not least, I do NOT miss carpet. British people, and the old generation more than the younger, put carpet everywhere in the house. But when I say everywhere, I mean even on the stairs! Madness. We’ve even seen carpet in bathrooms and around toilets! I’ve always hated it, but I was surrounded by it for 5 years, so I never want to see an entire house covered in carpet again.

I would be so curious to know if you guys have some other suggestions? Anybody else miss something from a place they used to live? Do tell me!

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Christmas Fair in Portmeirion

For our last proper day out in North Wales, we got some tickets for the Portmeirion's Christmas Fair and decided to go on Saturday at the opening time to make sure we wouldn't miss a thing!

You know me by now, I can't help but take shots of my surroundings, and true to form I realised I snapped more photos of the picturesque town rather than the actual fair! But hey, it's no reason for not sharing right?

You're probably wondering why you can't see that many Christmas decorations, well, that's because there weren't any! Kind of. We had such a great day over there, and it was great to walk around a Wintery Portmeirion, but if we had one thing to say, it's the fact that we were expecting more of a Winter Wonderland kind of vibe with plenty of Christmassy lights and decorations everywhere. Or at least around the stalls.

The products sold at the stalls were great though, and if we weren't moving next week, we would have been tempted to buy quite a few things! We ate our way around the town and drank our mulled cider happily. I didn't take photos of the fabulous german hot dog because it was a right mess and too delicious to stop and take photos of it! We also heard a few musicians, singers and choirs, and the one pictured above was our favourite.

When the sun came out in the afternoon, we decided to walk around the gardens and forest. The view was amazing from the hotel!

Whilst we didn't want to leave too late as Jason was driving the Capri back, I insisted on staying a little longer to see the town all illuminated in the dark. It did feel a little more Christmassy then as the couple of trees they had really stood out.

It was the second time that we visited Portmeirion (first post right here), and I can say without a doubt that I still love this place. I mean, how can you resist these colourful buildings? I would definitely recommend to visit it during Spring-Summer.

One day I'll own one of these houses ;)

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Tasty Food & Dreamy Sunset

Every year, the beautiful medieval town of Conwy hosts Conwy Feast, a food festival taking place in the town centre and historical waterfront. We always try and make sure to visit as it's so close to where we live (and well, it's not a secret that Jason and I LOVE good food), and we were so pleased that the sun was out the whole time we were there! I couldn't resist taking a few photos of the event.

Because we had quite a tight budget, we decided to share everything we were getting so that we could both try a couple of things. We enjoyed a Pierogi for starter, then some yummy shredded beef in a bun for main. Unfortunately I tried to take some photos of the amazing cakes we had for dessert but they didn't turn out great. And anyway, Jason was too hungry to wait for me to play around with the angle of the photo, ha!

We love the atmosphere there and although we never pay for the tickets to get inside the tents and watch the cooking demonstrations, we always find that there are enough stalls in the streets to keep us busy (and keep our mouths full!).

We had other plans for the afternoon though. As we're leaving for France very soon (Eeeek!) and we know that we won't get amazing weather like this for a while, we decided to go all the way to Llyn Peninsula to have a drink in a place that is apparently classed as one of the best pubs in the UK!

The pub Ty Coch Inn has always been on our list of places to visit but we didn't expect how beautiful the little village of Porthdinllaen is. Walking around the golf course, the small but charismatic village and the coast was as enjoyable as sitting in the pub with a nice ale or a rare bottled beer (Jason could tell you about them!). I had a cappuccino, which is obviously not their specialty but was still delicious. Above all, we found the place very friendly and relaxed, where the owner doesn't mind chatting to you and the staff is happy to help.

Also, I have to mention the views. Stunning! And this last photo I took of the sunset? Just dreamy. We had such a great day that we will have to come back when we're on holiday around here :)

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