Living on holiday all year round in Brittany - France

Imagine if every day you woke up and this was the view from your bedroom window. Imagine if you came downstairs and sat eating your breakfast looking out at the boats bobbing on the water. And on sunny days, you walked through the garden gate in the hedge in your swimsuit and dived off the jetty in front of your house. Well, this is the view that my French friend, Isabelle has from her front terrace and this is her life.

On dull days in the city like today, my mind wanders to places like Conleau near Vannes where my friend lives. She told me once that living in this house was like being on holiday every day. I love being beside the sea and the feeling of space and calm that it brings and I have to admit I’m not a little envious.

This is the view back towards the house from the early morning ferry we took when we went Fishing for Crabs on Isle de Houat, when I went to visit last summer. Sigh….. I wish it would be summer again, and that I lived on holiday all year round - don’t you?

This is posted as part of Photo Friday hosted at Delicious Baby - head over and see all the other photo Fridays too.

More stories from Brittany

Gone fishing for crabs on the Ile de Houat in Brittany, France
How to prepare a crab à la Française
A postcard from Conleau near Vannes in Brittany

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A shop full of sardines at Conserveira de Lisboa - in Lisbon

We came upon the Conserveira de Lisboa purely by chance, on a rainy day in Lisbon when we were making our way up the hill to the Castelo de Sao Jorge. Seeing a brightly coloured window we took shelter under it’s blind for a while and then got drawn in to the shop out of curiosity to see what it was selling.

It seemed a little unlikely to find a shop that only sold cans of sardines, but if it was to be found anywhere in the world, it had to be in Lisbon where the smell of grilled sardines invites you in to many a cafe in summer, especially by the seaside. In fact we found that it wasn’t just sardines, but also anchovies, tuna and other kinds of tinned fish.

Now, I can’t say I’m a great sardine lover, but I must say that I was seduced by the slightly kitch, retro paper packaging around each tin and the way that they were stacked up invitingly on the shelves. In the corner was a lady, deftly wrapping all the tins up in their decorative paper. These people had certainly made sardines into an art form!

They’d obviously sussed out what random passers by like us might purchase and we soon had a couple of little taster packs of four different kinds of tinned fish in our bags - ready perhaps to make some fishy apperitifs. You can guess what some of our nearest and dearest got for their Christmas presents.

So if you’re passing that way, or if sardines on toast are your favourite meal, or if you’re looking for an unusual souvenir of Lisbon, then pop into this quirky little place and check out a shop full of sardines at the Conserveira de Lisboa.

Conserveira de Lisboa, Rua dos Bacalhoeiros 34, 1100 Lisboa, Portugal

This is posted as part of Wanderfood Wednesday - head over for chilli and buritos and other foodie delights

Other Lisbon food to enjoy

Having my Pastéis and eating it in Lisbon
Seafood and beer at Cervejaria Trinidade in Lisbon
An authentic Portuguese meal at Casa do Alentejo in Lisbon

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A round-up of Heather on her Travels around the web

I try to do a regular round-up of places my articles have been published around the web, but I must confess that my concentration has lapsed a bit recently - I guess I’ve been so busy doing the writing that I just didn’t quite get round to telling you about them all. Shame on me! So here’s a rather longer than usual round-up of where else you can find Heather on her Travels in November through to February.

Hotel Reviews

If you got the feeling that I was staying in some fabulous hotels recently - the type of places that I’d normally only aspire to before booking something more budget friendly for the family, then you’d be right.

I was invited to do a hotel review of the luxury boutique hotel Heritage Av Liberdade in Lisbon, a mixture of Modern-luxe design and Heritage - read my review of Heritage Av Liberdade for Mr and Mrs Smith Hotels here and my guest post on Platefuls of Portugal: Lisbon’s tasty treats here.

I also took my teenage daughter for a night at the gorgeous Mandarin Oriental, Hyde Park in London where we were treated like princesses and enjoyed every minute of living in luxury - read my review for Kiwi Collection of the Mandarin Oriental, Hyde Park here.

Blog Mentions

I was thrilled in January to find that Lastminute.com mentioned me as one of their top 50 blogs about good stuff - in fact I was number 4 on their list - and what great company I’m keeping!

And that came on top of my nomination around the same time as best European blog in the 2010 Bloggies which brought me loads of extra readers and I hope some of you have stayed to hear more of my travel tales.

Thanks to Louise Brown who featured me as Site of the day at Travelblogsites.com, the blog about the best travel blogs around.  I also appeared in the Top 100 list which is published regularly on the site and am in the top 40 worldwide on the latest count. Although rankings aren’t everything, the list is a useful way to find some other great travel blogs out there to enjoy.

Although it’s a while ago now, thanks to Liz at Travelogged for including my Cedars of Lebanon post and video in her Blog Carnival along with some other great stuff worth reading.

And also to Mary Jo for her mention of my review of Fawsley hall among her travel favourites in this post.

And to Mindaugas at Abroadening who featured my travel photo from Lebanon in his post about photos that encapsulate enspiring moments in travel - mine was the free cakes I was offered outside the mosque in the souk at Sidon in Lebanon.

Europe a la Carte

As usual I’ve been posting weekly on a Thursday over at Europe a la Carte where you’ll find heaps of great Europe travel tips and ideas on things to do and see around Europe.

A boat trip to the Islands off Brittany in France - exploring some the islands that you can visit close the Vannes and the gulf of Morhiban where I visited a friend in July last year.

Visiting the sights of Belem in Lisbon, Portugal - A neighbourhood of Lisbon that has more than it’s fair share of great things to see and is worth a day on it’s own.

London attractions: Things to do in Hyde Park - When I visited London for a weekend recently I stayed at the wonderful Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park and realised that there were some great things to do in Hyde Park nearby - can’t wait to explore more as the weather warms up.

Explore the history of Zakynthos in Greece - Some interesting sights that will give you a taste for the historic past of Zakynthos, and an antedote to the package holiday image of the island.

Climbing St Peter’s church tower in Munich - It was certainly chilly as we climbed this tower to peer down at the Christmas markets below, but there are towers like this in many European cities to give you a different perspective on a city.

Stay in a bunkhouse in Wales and enjoy the great outdoors - A way of travelling that’s half way between B & B and camping, and great for those who enjoy the great outdoors but like to sleep with a roof over their head.

Visit the Pergamon Museum in Berlin - One of the must-see museums of Berlin with practically entire ancient buildings transported into the museum and a good audio-tour.

The Christmas lights of Lisbon and a Happy New Year - in which I advocate trying some Southern European destinations for a Christmas or New Year break - you can see the Christmas lights and still catch a bit of sun if you’re lucky!

Will Easyjet fly to Zakynthos in 2010? - And I was right, as soon after this article was published, Easyjet did announce they would start flights to Zakynthos.

Visit the Christmas Markets in Munich - Taking you through the different Christmas markets we visited in Munich just before Christmas including some that aren’t the obvious choice for the tourist.

The Painted Hall and Chapel at Greenwich, London - One of the beautifully painted historic buildings in Greenwich and it’s free.

A winter break at the Christmas Market in Bath - trying out the Christmas markets closer to home in anticipation of our visit to see the German version in Munich, as well as some other things to see in Bath that you may enjoy on a winter break.

Chill out at Kunsthaus Tacheles in Berlin - It’s grungy, it’s street-art, it’s hip and it’s the authentic side of Berlin, but not the place to take your granny for tea.

The murals of Orgosolo in Sardinia - The wonderful murals that you’ll find in the village of Orgosolo in the heart of mountainous Sardinia, formerly better known for it’s bandits.

Free things to see on London’s South Bank - a walk along the South Bank where you’ll find many great things to see and most of them free.

Battlefield Tours for Remembrance Sunday - Battlefield Tours you might like to make if you’re interested in military history or have an old soldier in the family.

Silent nights for Christmas at the Dennis Severs House in London - One of my most favourite atmospheric places in London to step back in time and see how a prosporous weaving family lived in the 17th century - best seen by candle-light.

A treat for the family at l’Oceanographic sea world in Valencia - A treat for the families, as my kids loved seeing the dolphin show at the Oceanarium in Valencia.

Well - what a relief to get all that off my chest! I hope it won’t be quite so long before the next round up of what I’ve been up to elsewhere on the web.

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