Santec and Roscoff, Brittany

Plage de Theven

This August,  instead of having our usual month long vacation in Asia, we decided to do something typically French. Baby 2 was only 3 months old and my parents were in town, and my husband wanted to use show off his Breton heritage once and for all. We rented a seafront villa in a small village called Santec. You won't find the crowds of the south here, non non. Quaint and quiet, it is the perfect spot to relax, enjoy nature, and eat affordable fresh seafood as often as you please.. 

A plane ride from Paris costs less than €200 and takes about an hour. A car ride would take about 7 hours and with 2 kids under 3 we opted for the first. A car rental is needed however once you reach Brest Airport. Then you're free to roam the countryside. This region isn't tourists' favorite for a reason. Despite having picturesque views and more affordable hotels and villa rentals, the weather is very mild and the sea is cold. In mid August, we were lucky enough to have 60% sunny weather, and clouds and rain for the rest. Its a bet that you take, because temperatures can reach 29 degrees Celcius  like it did last year!

View from our villa

Heated indoor pool with a view

10 minutes drive away from our little village is the town of Roscoff. Popular with the Brits, it is more lively and touristic. Here you can enjoy the region's specialties like crêpes and Kouign Aman. Crèpe I'm sure you know, but what in the world is that bizarre sounding word? Brittany boasts its own language that sounds nothing like French. A Kouign Aman is an artery clogging dessert made purely out of butter, flour and sugar. It is DIVINE. 

Seafood is abundant and affordable. When I say affordable, I mean cheaper than Paris because if you convert Euros to Ringgit it is still quite expensive from a Malaysian's point of view. Our seafood night that consists of 3 lobsters, 2 crabs, and 1 spider crab costs €120 fresh from the fisherman's market. Most villa rentals come with an equipped kitchen and a BBQ pit so you can prepare your seafood as you wish. 

The port of Roscoff

Get your arteries clogged here

They grow lots of onion in the region

Voila, an alternative holiday outside of Paris that isn't the usual. For a nature loving person, 2 weeks is more than enough. Here you get to really appreciate the French countryside, "just like Belle!" as my daughter claimed.

Photos by Me and my Pops

Disneyland Paris

It's so wonderful to be able to relive your childhood again! What other way than to live precariously through your 2 1/2 year old daughter?!? We went to Disneyland Paris twice this summer, only because my Princess didn't get to meet the Disney Princesses the first time around. Crazy doting parents we are, we learned the hard way the tricks of this château magique (magic castle as our daughter calls it). 

Firstly, choose wisely the day you decide to go. French children don't have school on Wednesdays, thus it is a bad day to go. People take extensions of their weekends, so Friday and Monday is not a good idea either. The best day ever- is the first day of school, or during the rentrée scolaire. Wigglemonster 1 goes to a private shool that starts a day after the public schools do, so we had the chance to do everything we wanted that we couldn't the first time. 

If you have a Princess crazed daughter or son, one parent must RUN towards the Princess Pavillion to get a meeting time with a princess. Once you have your ticket, you will be assigned a time frame. With this you enter the Princess Pavilion and wait again between 30 and 60 mins. If you have a younger child, do not enter! The wait is torturous, and with a moody baby you will quickly give up. This is what happened the first time so we decided to leave our son at home the second time around. The wait was worth it... The look on our baby girl's face... And MINE!

There is a thing called the fast pass. For any popular ride, you can scan your entry ticket to get your fast pass. It gives you a time frame and another line to wait in that is way faster and shorter. You can have one fast pass at a time. But if you go on the first day of school like we did, you don't even need it. Space Mountain had a 5 min wait which is unheard of! 

Main Street

There is a restaurant called L'Auberge de Cendrillon where you can dine with the princesses and princes. Book way ahead. The parade starts at 5:30 pm but with a car, we decided to leave before it starts to avoid the crowd. 

It's a truly magical place to be. Disneyland Paris brings out the kid in everyone no matter how grumpy and moody of a person you are, and makes every child's dream come true. 

Photos by Me 

Salut tout le monde!

It has come to my attention that my last post was about exactly a year ago, and I am appalled at myself. Milles excuses, I have been busy having a second child and everything, and no one warned me that having two children is like having two full time jobs! I drop literally everything for my family, but tada here I am again, with one Wigglemonster in school, 2 nannies, and a 5 month old who sleeps all the time- I am back! 

Our son, yes son! - was born on April 25th 2014 after a labor way shorter than the first one. Same hospital same doctor, all went well. We survived the difficult first two months, then he started sleeping through the nights so Papa and Maman became humans again. Baby A.M.A is an easy one, although way more clingy than his sister ever was, his smile just melts my heart and he gets his way.  I totally understand crazy mothers and their sons now.

Anyways, I am looking forward to writing on this blog again. I have so many things to share, within the past year we travelled to Prague, Langkawi, Normandy, Brittany, and soon to Marbella.. started to do even more kiddie stuff in Paris like Disneyland and Jardin d'Acclimitation, will keep you guys posted!

France Miniature

Visiting France and no time to see everything? Come to France Miniature, where you will be oohing and aahing at 116 historical monuments of France, exact replicas built on a 1/30 scale. I don't know why I didn't know about this place before, I don't think they publisize it as much as they should. Its a great way to spend the day with your children, there is even a mini fun park available for children above 6 years old. 

We took a car ride and was stuck in traffic for a good hour and a half, but without that it shouldn't take more than 40 mins to get here from Paris. I'm pretty sure there are tour buses who organize group visits, but I'm not such a big fan of tours. Tickets are not cheap, €19.50 for adults and €13.50 for children. I assume that this is only because it is expensive to construct and maintain the mini monuments. You will be awed at the accuracy of the details! 

There is a restaurant on site which we didn't try, and a cafeteria that sells sandwiches and pizzas. However, I highly recommend that you bring your own food, they provide picnic tables for people who do so. Pick a nice sunny day if you have the luxury to do so, everything is outdoors so you definitely do not want to come in the winter months. 

Miniature Château de Chenonceau

Mini me at mini Arc de Triomphe

A dream dollhouse!

Miniature port of Saint Tropez

Photos by Me

Checkout http://www.franceminiature.fr/en

Mallorca

How silly of me to think that we need to take a 10 hour flight minimum to get to a pristine beach, beautiful weather, and friendly people. Real silly of me! 2 hours by plane and about €200 away from Paris, you can find yourself in the Balearic Island of Mallorca. One of the best vacations with family that we have ever had! Our Spanish love affair continues with this destination, for as usual, the island is kid friendly, hotels are abundant and not expensive, no monetary exchange needed, and summer weather is available as early as end of May. 

Mallorca offers something for all sorts of travellers. If you are single and travelling with friends you can party the night away at Ibiza-like Magaluf. If you are with children and prefer hotels with ramps for strollers head up to Alcudia and its surrounding areas. Couples who like nature would love the luxury boutique hotels in the mountains. We stayed in a hotel on Playa de Muro called Be Live Palace de Muro. Five stars and rooms start at only €160 a night including breakfast! The service is excellent.

When we went it was the beginning of June. Daytime temperatures shot up to about 28 degrees Celcius, with cooling winds. Mornings and nights are a bit cool, so a sweater or two is still necessary at this time of the year. The seawater is freezing for a little Malaysian like me, but it didn't stop my little half Malaysian from taking a dip with her Breton father!

After coming back I couldn't stop ranting about Mallorca. We ate fresh seafood at the port of Alcudia, had an excellent dinner at Fusion19 (my François le Francais husband even dared say that he'd give it 1 Michelin star), spent hours with my parents on the beach, and just had the best time ever. I suggest this destination as a sidetrip be it with friends, family, or lover. Not only is it beautiful, but also convenient. It has become quite a trendy European destination, so everything a tourist would ever need is available at every corner- hospitals, convenience stores, ATM machines, and car rentals to name a few.

This just may be our yearly destination... Highly recommended peeps, GO TO MALLORCA!

Palma, Mallorca's capital

Palma Cathedral

The streets of old town Alcudia

The port of Alcudia

The streets of Palma

The crystal clear waters of Playa de Muro

Really good fried calamari at Fusion19

Photos by Me

Hotel Ermitage Evian Resort

So if you decided to checkout the mountain-side of France and are wondering where to stay, search no further. The Ermitage of Evian Resort is probably the only hotel you should consider. Hotel Ermitage (4 stars) and its sister Hotel Royal (5 stars) share the same grounds right on Lac Léman in the town of Evian-les-Bains. It has a baby club, a kids club, a teen club, a golf course, a spa, and exterior and interior swimming pools- it pretty much takes care of the whole family.

The service is friendly and efficient with staff who speak French, English and Russian. Babysitting services are available for a fee and there are several restaurants to choose from. The playroom is a mini heaven made of a pool table and wooden toys. Placed strategically next to the library and bar, you can relax while keeping an eye on your child.

Clients of Hotel Royal consists more of the older set, very calm and old school. We picked the Ermitage because of its appeal to families. The ambience is relaxed, kid friendly, with just a tad hint of snootiness which I don't mind. Wigglemonster was well entertained by the pianist in the evenings, she enjoyed her session in the jacuzzi, and slept very well in the hotel's baby cot.

All in all, it was a good experience. This hotel is recommended.

Our room with garden view

The Ermitage

The Ermitage garden

The Royal lobby bar

Outdoor pool

 Photos by Me
Checkout http://www.evianresort.com/fr/index.php

Yvoire

Taking advantage of the numerous public holidays in the beginning of May, J & I decided to take a little trip somewhere with the Wigglemonster. We both decided on visiting his brother and friend who lives in the region of Haute Savoie, up there somewhere in the mountains, right by the frontier of Switzerland. A 6 hour drive from Paris, this region boasts its world known ski stations like Chamonix and Megève. 

As we like to do with our roadtrips, we decided to visit little towns of the region. One of it is Yvoire, a charming little medieval village.When I say medieval, I mean medieval. Its pedestrian streets are lined with stone walled cottages where locals show off their hand made goods. It has a little port far less prestigious and chic than St Tropez or Monaco, but with a breathtaking view of the Swiss Alps.

Half a day spent here is more than enough. We ended our visit with lunch (of course) at La Vieille Port, recommended by J's brother. It was miraculously warm and sunny, so we decided to eat on the terrace overlooking Lac Léman, also known as Lake Geneva. Wigglemonster gets to run around to her heart's desire, we basked in the sun, and I even tried frog legs! Yes you got that right, frog legs. I must admit it has the texture of chicken and fish, and it woudn't bother me so much if I didn't have the picture of a big fat frog in my head as I was eating it. Not as bad as I thought, but no thanks.

Et donc voila, if you ever find yourself in this region, do visit, its super cute.

Restaurant La Vieille Porte and its view

The Mayor of Yvoire

The port of Yvoire

The restaurant's garden

 Photos by Me
Checkout http://www.la-vieille-porte.com/

Musée Rodin

So everyone knows that I hate museums so I'm not even going to pretend. Went to Musée Rodin back in January when my Pops was here, since he insisted. Thank God for me there wasn't any crazy lines to get in, it is relatively small, there is a cafeteria in the garden, and it wasn't very crowded. Beware to visitors with strollers, they are not allowed in the interior part of the museum and must be parked at coatcheck. I'm not interested enough to talk more about it, so here are some pictures that my father took :p

Photos by my Pops