The word is a very exciting place

 After our visit to Sainte-Trinité, we headed out and had a wander around the local area. While we didn't buy anything for ourselves, we did pop into a supermarket and brought everyone boxes of French biscuits as a treat for when we returned home. We then grabbed ourselves some dinner in a little restaurant in the basement of the supermarket. James had a burger, I had some veal cutlets, which were very nice!

 With the summer heat building in Paris, it was starting to become exhausting. But I was not going to let it stop us from seeing more of the city. So armed with water bottles, sun cream and a spare T-shirt, we spent our final day exploring. And boy, did we cram a lot into it! We started off with a wander through the Jardin du Luxembourg (Luxembourg Gardens), a charming set of gardens laid out in 1612 by Marie de Medici, who was the widow of King Henry the 5th. It's an expansive set of gardens, with an attention to detail. Every tree lined avenue leads your sight to an impressive building or monument, like the observatory or the Luxembourg palace, where the French senate still occasionally meets.

 Although Rome is known as the eternal city, I think Paris should also be bestowed such a title. I know a lot of people say it's the city of love which I don't really agree with, but I feel like it does need a more fancy title. I had a few thoughts, the cultural city, the city of beauty, the belle epoque city. But nothing quite seemed to sit right, so I guess until one of you lovely blog readers comes up with a better title for it, then it shall remain just Paris! We had done day trips to both Rouen & Amiens from Paris, but also wanted to spend some time in a city that Me & James were visiting for the third time. And it never gets boring here! James also made sure to book a nice hotel, we stayed at Laz Hotel near the Liege metro station. It was beautiful there, comfortable, clean, beautifully designed and with a lovely little balcony looking out over Paris. It wasn't cheap, but we wanted something very nice! You can find out more about the hotel here -  @lazhotelpar...

 Another easy day trip from Paris was to Amiens, this time by train. Amiens lacked the charm and historical feel of Rouen, particularly as you left the train and into the modern architectural playground that was the train station, but it did have something Rouen didn't have. A feeling of familiarity. Most places you visit the first time feel new, but Amiens felt like somewhere I had been before, and not in a bad way. It almost had that feeling of being back at home, which was a lovely feeling as you don't get it very often.

 Rouen is one of those places that is just beautiful. The old stuff is beautiful, the new stuff is beautiful, everything in between is beautiful. I mean what else could you want? What I loved most about Rouen was this transition from almost Mediterranean life by the river banks, to a medieval almost Germanic styled old town, not too dissimilar to Strasbourg, with crooked house covered in wooden beams, bright colours and alleyways' to get lost in. Rouen is one of the most charming places I have visited, and I will eagerly return to see more of it. We were only here for the day, we had caught the coach - or rather, the bla bla car bus from Paris, and it worked out as a brilliant day trip.

 One of the main things I have been desperate to see for years is the Bayeux tapestry, one of the world's most famous pieces of textile art and history. I'd read about it as a kid, and dreamed of visiting it. The great thing about being an adult is that you can go and see these things! So we planned it as a day trip from Caen. The trains were faster than the bus, and there was not much difference cost wise. And, like everything in France, even the trains were chic. We got to sit on a fancy curved sofa on the train! The French really do know how to make a train ride tres bien! 

 Frustratingly for me, I hadn't done much research on Caen, I'd been more focussed on our trip to Bayeux the next day. So I'd only given it the afternoon we arrived to explore. I wish I'd dedicated a full day to Caen, there was a lot more to see and do there. So apologies to the city of Caen, but I will return again to explore properly! Caen has this fantastic classical/baroque feel to it, everywhere you go there is beautiful buildings with impressive facades, all clad in Caen stone, that I think is world famous. Only the other day I was at Bodiam & Camber castles, and both have information boards that explained the stone came from Caen. (I'll post about them eventually, don't worry!). It's a beautiful sandy colour, and it seems to always shine, no matter what the weather.

 We lasted visited France in 2018, and it seemed long overdue for a return visit! There is something about France, it just has such a interesting and cultural vibe. Just a shame that it's French! (just a joke!) We normally catch the Eurostar, but James suggested we instead catch the ferry to Caen, and start our journey from there which seemed like a good idea. So we caught the train down to Portsmouth docks, and boarded the ferry. We didn't take the car, James wasn't keen on driving on the opposite side of the road, so we boarded as foot passengers. I can't remember the name of the ferry we were on, but it was Brittany Ferries, and if you book in advance you can get a sailing as a foot passengers for as cheap as £22 each way in the shoulder season. That's cheaper than going to the Isle of Wight! (and to be fair, why go to the IOW when you can go to France?) View more of their routes and sailings at  www.brittany-ferries.co.uk

 June was a bizarre month, for several reasons. The weather was beautiful, and that seemed at odd of how I was feeling. I was so burnt out, I had trouble even doing things like washing myself and cooking. But after I handed in my notice, that feeling started to ease. I knew I only had this month to go, and then I would never have to come back here to work again. So I took a deep breath every morning, and told myself only 10 days to go. 9 days to go. 8 days to go. I could have called in sick, I could have just not turned up each day like everyone told me to. But I wanted to leave work with my head held high.  Although it felt like things were against me in that respect. I'd not told anyone I was handing in my notice except for James. And when I handed my notice in to my manager, I asked for it to remain quiet for a few days, until I was ready to tell everyone myself, particularly my team that I managed. They deserved to hear it from me first. The next day, I had several members...

 Hi everyone, and welcome to the Eurovision aftermath post, where I go into a little bit more detail about the show & results, and some of the production aspects of the show. So first of all, I want to say that overall, the BBC did us really proud. The production was brilliant, and had a much more professional feel than last years contest in Italy did. I loved the colour scheme and designs, bar the graphic design on screen when introducing an entry, it felt too messy and confusing. In terms of the show, there was a nice feel and pace to it, we had very few awkward moments and pauses while we waited for things to be ready. Our hosts were all brilliant too, bringing an energy and good feeling vibe that I really enjoyed. Probably my main complaint this year was what felt like a lack of Ukrainian involvement in a lot of it. There was Ukrainian elements in the semi finals, particularly the interval acts, but it felt almost like a regular hosting, almost like the UK had won last year...