Summer 2016

Our summer couldn't have started any better, after finding out we were expecting our second baby on the 6th of June :) Shortly after that, on the 11th, our road trip in southern France started, and we spent 10 lovely days in a secret early babymoon discovering the Languedoc-Roussillon, Camargue, and Provence regions. 

One thing we soon realized was how much better did French schedule fit our family rather than the Spanish one. French have lunch (as most of the world does I think) a bit before 1PM, and dinner around 7:30PM. In Spain, we eat at 2-3PM and 9-10PM respectively. This schedule is really bad for going out to restaurants with toddlers who need to nap/sleep by the time we're just starting to eat. Eating earlier as the French do definitely smoothed our trip a lot, as Liam was ok during lunch (it was in fact his lunch time as well), and same goes for dinner. 

In the Camargue region, we specially enjoyed the salt mines of Aigues-Mortes. They were SO pretty with their pink color, it was such an enjoyment for the eyes! There were several huge, white salt mountains around, and we were allowed on one of them! We took these pics below while on it, and Liam and I dared trying the salt directly from the ground :p

The Provence region was our main destination, and getting to visit the lavender fields was a dream of mine that finally came true! The bloom had just started in June, but they were already absolutely gorgeous.

We also enjoyed discovering Les Baux de Provence, St Remy de Provence, and Roussillon, lovely little Provence towns we fell in love with.

Les Baux de Provence

Roussillon

The farthest we went in our trip was Les Gorges du Verdon, which is the beginning of the Verdon river, an absolute delight, it was SO pretty! We really enjoyed this one-day trip.

The most pleasant surprise from our trip though, was our last stop: Collioure, a lovely little French town by the sea next to the Catalan border. I chose it because it was in the middle of Arles (our last real stop) and our home in Barcelona, but it ended up being a major highlight of the trip. We absolutely loved being in the seaside after spending our trip in the inland, and Collioure truly surprised us by being absolutely gorgeous. 

In July, I had major bleeding in my 9th week of pregnancy as I explained here and was on sick leave for 77 days, so I didn't take much pictures... 

When Liam's school term got to an end by the end of July, we moved to our beach house and Liam and I spent the whole month there.  The hubby came back everyday after work, luckily it's not too far from Barcelona. I didn't exactly get to rest having to take care of Liam one-on-one, but it was the best for him, he had a blast every single day! So I guess that makes it all worth it :) Plus my 20 week ultrasound confirmed everything was ok with my pregnancy and I could go back to work, so yay!

We also celebrated Liam's second birthday on August 28th, which is when we also announced that we were expecting our second baby. We've just recently taken the gender reveal pics, so you know which post will be next! I hope to post it within this week.

Thanks for taking your time to read all the way until here, I hope you liked our little summer summary!

Afternoon tea at Ladurée - Paris

While some people might be excited about visiting Paris for the architecture, the wine, or Paris Fashion Week, my favorite thing of the French capital are undoubtedly its pastries and teas. Croissants, pain au chocolat, macarons, petits fours... you name it, I love them all! And a brand that holds a very special place in my heart is Ladurée, for its consistent good quality and overall  elegance. I've been to Ladurée at the Champs Elysées several times in my life, and I couldn't leave Paris this time without visiting it once again. 

All their pastries and teas are delightful, an amazing little treat to feast on. Of course I had to have my beloved Ispahan, my favorite cake ever, ever! I used to like the one at Pierre Hermé better but during this trip to Paris I tried both and the one at Ladurée was most certainly superior in many ways, mostly regarding the macaron shell, which was a bit to dry at Pierre Hermé. Look at this big Ispahan Ladurée has for sale! I would LOVE this as birthday cake, it is oh-so-my-kind-of-cake!!! {My birthday happens to be tomorrow, by the way! Too bad we're not in Paris anymore!} Simply gorgeous and undeniably delicious.

I forgot which tea I had at Ladurée but all the teas they serve are from their own collection, which you can also buy at the counter to drink at home. It was definitely good, although in my honest opinion there's no tea in the world as good as the ones from Mariage Frères, where I did buy several kinds that I took home with me. Mariage Frères is THE place to go for tea in Paris, and they have a tea saloon which I'm dying to try as well. I might even like it better than Ladurée, who knows! Oh well, it will have to be for my next trip to Paris!

Visited on: October 10, 2013

Overall Quality: 5*

Price: Pricey! A tea costs around 7 euros and that Ispahan more than 10 euros, excluding tax!

Value for Money: 4.5*

Would I recommend it? Most certainly :)