Holiday Destination: Monaco

I've just come back from an incredible 4 days in Monaco and crash landed in what feels like the middle of November. Take me back to sunshine, cocktails and people watching outside a casino any day! 

There is so much to see and do in Monaco, we struggled to fit it all in. We chose the week to go primarily for the Top Marques car festival, which happened to be on our final morning, so still had 3 and a half days to explore the A-listers hot spot on the French Riviera.

PEOPLE WATCH

If you can't people watch in Monaco, then when can you?! Grab a space near the front at Café de Paris, order a banana split (seriously good stuff) and watch the cars drive past. You can sit there for hours and watch the world go by.

SIGHTSEEING 

We set out on our second day for a whole day of sightseeing and thoroughly enjoyed it. Walking through the back streets led us to incredible views, quiet parks and unique shops. My top places to visit would be the cathedral, the casino, the Port de Fontvieille and the palace.

VIEWS FOR DAYS

The gardens and photogenic spots in Monaco are second to none and will definitely be adding to a few new Instagram posts over the next few days. We visited the Jardin Exotqiue and Jardin St Martin, both easily accessible and completely instagrammable.

SHOPPING

The shops in Monaco really speak for themself. From Chanel to Cartier, D&G to Dior and Zara just to add into the mix, I loved going around all of the shops hunting for my dream purchase. I found myself a handbag in The Kooples that I just couldn't resist so it ended up coming with me! If you fancy a luxury weekend spree, Monte Carlo pretty much has you covered.

The final night in Monaco was definitely a night to remember. The night started in Buddha Bar with an incredible meal and cocktails, followed by a once-in-a-lifetime trip to the casino and ended with drinks at Café de Paris. The casino was beautiful inside - with marble bar areas, a jazz band setting the atmosphere, hand painted ceiling detail and enough men in tux's to kit out the extras for the next 4 James Bond films. If you're in Monaco, fancy dressing up for a night and having a bit of fun, the casino is definitely the place to go.

Holiday Destination: Paris

Paris has always been somewhere I'd love to visit and celebrating my 21st was the ideal excuse to head there for a few nights away. I hadn't looked into the city too much, meaning that our itinerary was quite spontaneous but I had spoken to a few people about their highlights and looked through recommendations, in order to make it the perfect city break. Here's what we got up to during our 3 night French excursion...

WHAT TO DO

Landmarks are always high on my to-do list when visiting a new city and Paris was no exception. Our bus transfer from the airport dropped us at the doorstep of the Eiffel Tower - a great first impression. Later in the week, we also climbed the Tower (when in Paris, right?!) to admire the greatness of the architecture, as well as the incredible views across the city.

We visited all of the landmarks over two days which was a great way to hit everything in one go but in over 30 degree heat, I would definitely choose the metro next time, rather than walking. The first day consisted of the Notre Dame and Ile Saint-Louis, allowing us to explore more of the traditional Paris, mingling with the locals in delicatessens and down the quiet streets.
The following day accounted for Moulin Rouge, Arc de Triomphe, The Louvre and Champs-Elysees. We went FULL tourist.

One of my itinerary highlights was the second night of the trip, when we visited Parc de Princes to watch a PSG game. We both love watching football and seeing this was Neymar's first game, we couldn't miss it. The tickets were easy to book and print online and cost us around £35 each for pretty good seats. It was such a fun night and definitely something I would do again, if visiting an iconic European football club.

Eating and culture

I have a real soft spot for French food and always enjoy finding a local patisserie for lunch (and post-dinner pastries!). The cakes in Paris are like no other and just looking at the pastel perfect window displays will tempt you to visit.

We ate at two amazing restaurants while in Paris which I thought I would share with you. On our first night, we headed to a simple restaurant, 'Bistro Chez France', where we indulged in steak, fish, lots of vin and the most sublime apple tart tatin. The restaurant was a short walk from the Eiffel Tower, hidden in the back streets, but seemed very popular with locals and the service was fantastic and personal.

'Le Grand Colbert' finalised our trip in the most spectacular style. The brasserie style restaurant impressed as soon as we entered - the art-deco lighting, mosaic flooring and attention to detail was not to be missed. We had no idea that this restaurant was a setting for the film 'Something's Gotta Give', but luckily, it wasn't tacky with any memorabilia or Jack Nicholson enthusiasts. If you head here, definitely try the classic french onion soup and make sure you save room for pudding - their pavlova is to die for!

Holiday Destination: Prague

I know it's long overdue, but I wanted to share my recent holiday pictures and thoughts with you, this time from Prague.

We flew to Prague at the end of May, after a stressful year at uni and to mark the beginning of summer. Here's what we got up to:

Day 1

We arrived at the Majestic Plaza in Prague to beautiful weather and an urge to explore. After getting ourselves ready, we headed around the corner to find a large shopping centre (Sephora and Topshop - hello!), had a little look around and made our way down the high street towards Wenceslass Square. We had dinner at a pizza parlour in the heart of the square and then made a slow walk towards one of the bars we'd been eyeing up - James Dean's. The bar was our favourite and we ended up back there every night - great music, cheap drinks and a 50's diner theme.

Day 2

We had a lie-in pretty much everyday in Prague - it's such a chilled city, there's no need to rush for anything. We walked down to the Old Town Square where we had ice creams and admired the incredibly detailed buildings, before heading over Charles Bridge en route to the Castle. It was a long walk uphill but it's definitely the one thing you HAVE to do if you're in Prague. The buildings and views are definitely worth it once you get up there!

We had dinner in the Old Town Square at sunset, before exploring Prague's Old Town for bars and pubs. Bugsy's was the last bar we went to and was definitely my favourite, with a 20's London vibe and a long list of cocktails to choose from.

Day 3

On the hottest day of our holiday, we headed south along the river to explore more of Prague. We walked until we got to the dancing building and chilled by the river for a bit before going to crazy golf. Everything is relatively cheap in Prague and for £8 we had unlimited golf, arcade games and 2 drinks each - pretty good! We had such a long walk back to the Old Town so it wasn't too great that we got stuck in the biggest thunderstorm just as we were wandering across Charles Bridge so we spent the rest of the afternoon running back to the hotel and ordering room service for lunch!

Our dinner reservation was at the Buddha Bar in Prague and without a doubt, it was one of the best restaurants I have ever been to. The attention to detail, from the cocktails to the dessert, was exceptional and was definitely worth every penny.

Day 4

We spent the morning wandering over the Charles Bridge to find the John Lennon wall and pub, where we listened to music and looked around the stalls. There's so much to do in the city with history behind every attraction, but it's such a relaxing and chilled place to be.

We had a reservation at Cloud 9 - the sky bar in Prague, and the views over dinner were incredible. The food was lovely, but spent most of our time there making our way down the cocktail menu. After dinner we headed back to James Dean's for the night, which I guess was pretty good, because (judging by the photos) we ended up spending all of our money and partying along with a stag-do...

Day 5

Our last day was an absolute write off. I decided to get that drunk on our last night, I could barely move on our last day. After a loooong walk into town, we sat at a restaurant where I sipped water and admired the view. I had a nap and felt a bit better, so we wandered around a few shops before heading back to the hotel to wait in the lobby. I wish I'd have done it a bit differently and maybe not drank as much, it definitely ruined our last day in such a beautiful city, but we had to spend the last bit of our money somehow!

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Loving London

I love visiting London. Compared to the small town I live in, everything is exaggerated! The people, atmosphere, shopping, attractions and things to do leave you wanting more and more; it's never a boring trip.

Before I went on holiday, I went to London for the day with Ollie and his family. We headed off really early so I slept most of the way down but we decided to park at Westfields and walk into town. I'd never been to Westfields shopping centre and didn't know what to expect but it's great; probably the same size as the bullring with loads of variety of shops and tens of restaurants to choose from.

Walking into town was fun. It was such a warm day which was lovely as we strolled through Kensington and Hyde Park - ending up at Harrods. I could really spend all day in Harrods, I love everything and if I had enough money, would absolutely love to walk in and buy a couple of really nice items. There's just so much choice and everything is amazing!

Once we'd finished browsing, we walked from Harrods to Piccadilly Circus and from there to Trafalgar Square. We wish we'd have had a look around Carnaby Street now but at the time, it was nice to just walk around, taking it all in. Neither of us bought anything but we go shopping so much that being somewhere different, it really didn't make a difference to us! Ollie's family had gone to look at the Audrey Hepburn exhibition which sounded fascinating so we met up with everyone else just before our restaurant reservation, so we could talk about it all there.

Finishing off the day with a huge meal at Planet Hollywood, we were too tired (and full!) for the walk back, so grabbed a taxi back to the car and headed home! It was a brilliant day and I can't wait to go back again at Christmas time - making sure we don't forget that bit of extra shopping time!!