From Europe - with love.
On our first wedding anniversary, my husband gifted me with a surprise from my wildest dreams - tickets to The Era's Tour in Paris! I was beyond excited and a little in disbelief. I had signed up for every city and tried desperately to get tickets with no luck. Somehow, my husband was able to pull them out of his hat. I was elated for two reasons. The opportunity to see Taylor Swift in concert - the legend, my idol - was huge; but secondly I knew this meant we could take a trip of a lifetime together.
As parents of two littles finding time for one another isn't always the easiest. Leaving my children behind was a little daunting at first. However, after time it shifted to the excitement of planning some adventures of just the two of us. Plus, they got the opportunity to be spoiled by their grandparents for two weeks - win, win!
Of course I took my camera along for the journey and tried to capture as much as I could. So the purpose of this post is to bring you along our journey through Europe. Come along while I share the highlights of our trip. Our adventure took us to London, Belgium, Northern France, Normandy, Paris, London, and Salisbury (Stonehenge). Let's go!
Our first anniversary in Rocky Harbour, NL @thefishsheds
First stop, London.
After an overnight flight from YYT to LGW, a train and bus stop we found ourselves right where you'd find any tourist in London..at "Big Ben" - The Elizabeth Tower of the Palace of Westminster. The weather fit London's reputation. It was a grey foggy day in May which really set the mood. We spent our day travelling by foot. We also visited the Churchill War Rooms, and Buckingham Palace. In the evening we took a ride on the London Eye which provided amazing views of the city.
Buckingham Palace & Grounds
I felt like a real princess strolling through the gardens surrounding the palace. The greenery and florals were starting to bloom and the smells filled the air. We felt right at home when we came upon the Canada gate, especially the Newfoundland crest. We also wandered into Green Park to find the Canada Memorial which "pays tribute to the nearly one million Canadian and Newfoundland men and women who served in the United Kingdom during the First and Second World Wars. In particular, it honours the more than 100,000 brave Canadians and Newfoundlanders who paid the ultimate sacrifice for peace and freedom."
Frolicking the Streets of London.
You know I had to get those "Instagram worthy" classic red telephone booth shots. My husband was such a good sport and got a glimpse of his travel duties as a photographer's husband. By the end of the vacation I was very impressed by his skill, I may soon have an assistant!
So long, London
Belgium - Brussels & Bruges.
After spending a full day in London, we woke up the next morning and took the Eurostar to Brussels. When we got there it was pouring down rain which made frolicking the streets a bit more challenging. So instead, since we only had the afternoon we spent the majority of our time at The Grand Place and took a tour of the Town Hall. The architecture at The Grand Place certainly held up to its name - with architecture dating back mainly to the 17th century, many with golden accents.
Bruges - A fairytale village.
Think of the most picturesque city with enchanting canals. I felt like I had been placed in a storybook. It was probably the highlight of our whole trip for me. The streets weren't overly crowded, and it didn't feel like it was filled with tourists. Our hotel was the cutest little spot, Hotel Acacia. Below you'll find photos of me looking through our hotel room window at a tower in the distance. One of our favourite meals of our trip was at Restaurant Chagall - a neat retro themed restaurant with movie stars filling the walls.
If the sheer beauty of the quaint cobblestone streets weren't enough, the sound of the constant horse and carriages stomping through were magical. I highly recommend taking a ride in a horse drawn carriage if you visit, it was such a unique way to tour the city and our guide provided a wonderful overview of the history. I left with my heart filled with magic, and my belly filled with chocolate.
Northern France & Normandy in a rental.
After a couple of days in Bruges, we took a train to Lille, France where we picked up our rental car. From Lille we drove north to the Beaumont-Hamel Newfoundland Memorial in Hauts-de-France. From there we drove to Rouen where we stayed the night. The next day we visited Mont Saint-Michel, Omaha beach and spent the night in Caen before taking a train to Paris.
Beaumont-Hamel Newfoundland Memorial.
The memorial is in remembrance and acts as a tribute to all Newfoundlanders who served during the First World War. The memorial was beautiful, peaceful and moving. By the time that we arrived the sun was just beginning to set. We were the only people visiting at the time. After spending hours driving through the French countryside it felt like we had driven all the way back home. They did an amazing job at making the memorial look and feel like Newfoundland. We signed our names in the guest book along with the so many other Newfoundlanders and Labradorians.
Say you'll remember me, standing in a nice dress, staring at the sunset, babe.
It really felt like something out of a dream, driving through the French countryside. After leaving Beaumont Hamel we drove to Rouen where we stayed for the night. On the way as the sun was just about to set we drove past a beautiful rolling field. So, naturally I asked my husband to stop and capture a few photos.
Mont Saint Michel.
Castle in the sky? I'm not sure if any of you remember the movie "Castle in the sky" that was released in 1986 with the flying castle? It has been years since I thought about that movie, but for some reason when I saw Mont St Michel in the distance it was all I could see. In reality, it is a small tidal island and mainland commune. It is a small village that is surrounded with walls with an ancient abbey crowning the mount. The views from the abbey were stunning. The tide was low during our visit. I would love to return and witness it at high tide with the water surrounding the island.
Paris.
We spent the bulk of our vacation in Paris. As wonderful as the landmarks and museums would be, we also wanted to have time to have an authentic experience. Our first day we checked into Hôtel Vinci Due & Spa in the 7th arrondissement, we highly recommend this hotel - the staff were incredible. We then spent the remainder of the day exploring. We visited Jardin du Luxembourg, had dinner at Le Dome Café, and walked along the Seine on the way back to our hotel. The following day was an action packed one as it was the Eras Tour day! We woke up early for a sunrise photoshoot, compliments of Rachael with Flytographer. Then, we had a relatively laid back day leading up to the concert.
The day following The Era's Tour, we woke up a little sleepy and sore from standing for hours. However, we were determined to hit the ground running. We spent the morning at Musee du Louvre, took some photos by the Eiffel tour, and had dinner on a cruise down the seine (highly recommend!).
Musée du Louvre.
You really can't visit Paris and not visit Mona Lisa at the Louvre. While she may be the most famous piece of artwork there certainly are so many other iconic pieces. The Louvre is filled with paintings, sculptures, architectural elements and art objects by famous or anonymous artists of many different origins and eras. I was in awe and a little overwhelmed by it all. It was a lot to take in and I feel like you need multiple visits to the Louvre to really get the whole essence of the museum.
Château de Versailles.
Day four in Paris started with a visit to Château de Versailles, followed by a Tour of the Eiffel tour. The palace was elegant and each room had its own character. However, I was equally as impressed by the expansive gardens outside of the palace. I could have spent hours running around barefoot and exploring. Our visit was cut short since we had to rush back to Paris for our tour of the Eiffel tour so it's definitely on my list for when we return.
After leaving Château de Versailles we took a train back to Paris as we had a reservation to tour the Eiffel Tower. As soon as we got off the train it was absolutely pouring, and I was wearing the white eyelet dress pictured above, ha. Needless to say we weren't about to miss our tour so we bolted in the pouring rain, by the time we got there my dress no longer left much to the imagination. The lady in security had a real chuckle at me. Luckily, there was a gift shop inside the tower and I bought the largest black crewneck that I could find! The tour of the tower was amazing, we even had a champagne toast at the top!
On our fifth and last day in Paris, we took it pretty easy. We decided to take a final stroll through Champs-Élysées which runs from Place de la Concorde to Arc de Triomphe.
Back to London.
We ended off our vacation back in London as our flight back home was out of Gatwick. We spent the morning having a traditional English breakfast at the cutest little cafe, The English Rose Cafe. We still had a little bit of adventure in us, so my husband booked a last minute tour to Salisbury to see Stonehenge. Stonehenge was remarkable. I remember as a child our family's computer had a screensaver of Stonehenge, so it brought back nostalgic feelings of daydreaming of visiting it one day. It was about a 5 hour round trip plus the time it took us to visit the area and museum. By the time we got back to our hotel in London we were wiped. The next morning our flight took off early in the morning and we were bound for home.
I hope you've enjoyed coming along and hearing about some of the sights we saw and adventures we got up to in Europe! It definitely won't be our last European vacation. See you next time!
@flytographer, photo by Rachael
