Birthday weekend in Belle-île-en-Mer

I visited Belle-ile-en-Mer quite a few times when I was a teenager as I was really lucky to have a best friend, Marion, who's family had a small boat which her dad built himself (I say small but really, it was big enough to have quite a few people sleeping in it and it had a proper lounge area which felt very luxurious to me!). We used to go there in the Summer as she had some family still living on the island and I have very fond memories of these trips. I can safely say that these were the good times and I loved every minute of it (although I was always a bit seasick the first day haha).

The island is as beautiful as I remember and Jason and I were lucky enough to visit when the weather was A-MA-ZING. More photos below!

We stayed in Quiberon the night of my birthday and had a loooovely meal at Ty Retro, a great Crêperie in the town centre. I honestly don't remember the last time I ate such a tasty savoury galette!

In the morning, we made sure to wake up early enough to get a quick coffee before getting on the boat. I took a couple of photos of the coast of Quiberon (above), it felt nice and peaceful early in the day with almost nobody around.

It takes 45mins to get to Belle-île by boat and the time went actually quite fast. I'm not great with boats so I felt a little bit rough at the end but the moment I was on the ground I was fine. Can't tell if it's just psychologic?!

My sister's boyfriend got us a Wonderbox voucher for Christmas and we chose to use it for a small meal at the Citadelle Vauban. We were also given the permission to roam around after our meal and it was just perfect. I mean, first, delicious pâtisseries on a terrasse with a view of the sea for breakfast is a great birthday treat, and secondly, being able to then explore this beautiful place for free was the cherry on the cake!

I felt very lucky to be there and enjoy a day off for my birthday with my man. We don't have much and we haven't really been able to travel as much (and as far!) as we've wanted to, but sometimes, you don't need to go very far to have the best of times :)

I forgot how colourful the buildings at the Palais (the port area) were and it was nice to try and remember certain places. Things have changed quite a bit since I was last there but I did remember the green area just after the port with the old fortress walls, and I also remembered instantly that beach when we arrived!

In the afternoon we just wanted to relax so we walked to the nearest beach and stayed there until we had to take the boat back. The water was so clear and it was so stunning that we almost forgot we were in Bretagne ;). We found a spot in the shade and enjoyed hearing some old ladies gathering and gossiping whilst sunbathing. It must be nice to be retired there! Such a nice peaceful place to live in.

We promised ourselves to go back another time to explore more of the rest of the island. Jason couldn't believe that one of the small towns is called "Bangor"! If any of you reading this are considering visiting Bretagne, don't hesitate to spend a day or two in Belle-île-en-Mer :)

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Birthday weekend in l'Île aux Moines!

As my birthday this year was on a Wednesday, we decided to celebrate it early during a little weekend getaway in l'Île aux Moines. I've explored parts of the island before but it was a long time ago and even though I knew it's a nice place to visit, I forgot how beautiful it was! Well, I guess the fact that it was hot and sunny during the whole weekend helped a lot ;)

Looking at hotels on the island, we realised how super expensive it was to stay for the night there, so we booked a lovely AirBnB only 10mins away from Port Blanc (the main port where you can get a really quick boat ride to the island). There's a massive free car park close to the port, and with a return ticket only costing 5€ per person, we knew it was the cheapest option!

We found it quite nice to get there by boat. It really felt like an adventure! We spent all Saturday on the island, with a picnic in hand for lunch, and we had a really nice birthday meal at La Ptite Souris in Vannes in the evening (20mins away from our AirBnB). It felt like such a long day!

We came back on Sunday quite early in the morning to beat the crowd and it was just SO lovely. We decided not to rent bikes as we like to just walk around at our own pace, taking as many photos as we feel like.

One thing I couldn't get over with is how beautiful and unique the houses are on the island and I couldn't help but dream about buying one of them one day! Also, there were colourful flowers everywhere and I just went a bit crazy with the photos. Don't worry, I'm not sharing even half of them with you :)

We walked a lot to get to different points of the island and we enjoyed every minute! We really liked stopping by the Pointe du Trec'h (far north) and we couldn't miss the Cromlech (neolithic site with remaining standing stones). We were helped with plenty of water and of course, a delicious meal at La Chaumière for lunch. My goodness, I could plan another trip to l'Île aux Moines JUST to eat more of their galettes and crêpes!

We used the coastal paths as much as we could and it's the best way to get around the island if you're looking for the best views!

Although we didn't have our swimsuits with us, the water was too inviting not to put our feet in to refresh ourselves a bit. We found a small beach that felt really private even though it was a bit crowded, but unfortunately, I can't remember its name!

Also, I had to include a photo of one of the painted mailboxes. So many people seem to paint theirs on the island and this one was the prettiest we found.

We've been quite stressed lately and this short weekend away was really needed. I felt relaxed and I was just enjoying the moment and going with the flow for once. And we're now getting ready for a week off in Dordogne with my family and I CANNOT wait! A weekend away was great but a week away, well, let's say it will be really really appreciated. Make sure to follow our adventures on my Instagram account!

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30% OFF my new Etsy Collection!

Happy Monday! I hope my British friends are having a great bank holiday. In France, there's so many bank holidays during the month of May but obviously, it doesn't really apply when you're working as a freelancer like me!

Anywho, I thought I would celebrate the fact that it's been just over a month that I've launched my new Etsy collection, so I've prepared a little discount! 30% OFF with code NEW30 for the whole week! So you have no excuses to indulge in some stationery goodness ;)

SHOP HERE

Enjoy!

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Brand New Etsy Collection!

So, do you remember when I told you I'd like to create a new collection of greeting cards as part of my goals earlier this year? Well, I did it! And I'm SO pleased about it.

It's not that I didn't like the previous cards anymore, but I designed them in 2015 and I felt it was time for a change. Plus, I wanted my new illustrations to reflect better the type of style I like to work on without doing something completely different from the previous cards... and Tadaaa, aren't they cute?!

You can now find 6 new cards, some of them with French, some of them with English and some of them without any message on the front. I figured it would be best to keep them simple so that they would appeal to more people ;)

If everything goes well, I'd like to add some prints at one point! A good friend of mine has always said to me that having them framed and ready to purchase like that would be a good idea. Now that I've moved back to France and I'm a lot more settled in my freelance work, I feel that this would be the right direction :)

So don't waste a minute and have a little nosey RIGHT HERE!

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