travel Archives - Fashion Et Moi

September 10, 2019

A Love Note To The Beach

Sand between my toes, crystal blue waters and a (nearly) deserted cove. It was our little slice of heaven.

There’s something so romantic about a beach. The quiet ripple of water, the gentle warm breeze, the golden hues - you just can’t beat it. As soon as I slip off my sandals and sink that first step into the warm sand, a feeling of calmness washes over me.

Down a bumpy dirt track that seemed to put off the other beach dwellers in Saplunara, Limuni Beach is on the southernmost tip of Mljet Island, Croatia. During our three-day stay, Lewis and I made the trip three times to the island’s best kept secret. A quiet cove engulfed in sun, with little fishing boats tied up and bobbing to the rhythm of the gentle sea ripple, presumably belonging to the solitary house on the cliff above.

So here’s a farewell and a thank you to summer. As the days grow shorter, the nights darker and the layers multiply, I’ll think back to this peaceful place, to moments of freedom and to the heat on my skin. A summer spent in floaty vintage dresses with a Moroccan basket bag on my arm, filled with beach towels and sustainable swimwear ready for the next dip.

Summer, you were golden X

June 17, 2019

A Weekend In Bristol

Hello! I hope you had a lovely weekend. I was back home in Bristol and I wanted to share some photos I took on my phone. In true Bristol style, the weather was rather wet during my visit - apart from glorious blue skies when I first arrived back on Friday night.

Saturday started off just as Saturdays (or Sundays) in Bristol should; with brunch. My sister and I took our dad out for a day-early Father’s Day treat at our favourite brunch spot, Bakers & Co on Gloucester Road. I had avocado on toast with mushrooms and stole a piece of my sister’s halloumi - just the start of a day full of vegan slip-ups, oops. Following brunch, we braved the rain and darted in and out of all the charity shops Gloucester Road has to offer. I always find some great homewear bits and this time was no different. I picked up a dusty pink lamp base in one shop and a rattan lampshade in another - a match made in heaven, until I found the lampshade didn’t fit so off we went to the hardware shop for a solution. Most of my trips to Gloucester Road shopping seem to end up with me at the hardware shop…

Following a quick trip to Clifton Village where I admired the freshly watered (read: rained on) and colourful fruit stall at Reg the Veg, my sister and I headed to our stepdad’s for an afternoon of lazing about in the conservatory, watching the rain hammer on the glass roof and admiring the colourful flowers in the garden.

I want to do more off-the-cuff, diary-style blog posts like this so I hope you enjoyed this post. X

January 31, 2019

Postcards from Lisbon

Seeking sun, cute streets and just generally a break from the UK in January, Lewis and I headed to Lisbon for a long weekend.

Having already visited the Portuguese capital at the height of summer six years ago with my mum and sister, I was excited to rediscover the city with Lewis who had never been. We landed on Saturday afternoon to not a cloud in the sky – that feeling when you step off the plane, hit by warm sun rays is almost indescribable. Unfortunately, that glorious weather didn’t last for the whole time we were there but at least it was clement enough to walk around the city whilst soaking up the colourful architecture and tiled buildings, taking photos and sampling lots of pastéis de nata along the way.

We stayed in a lovely Airbnb overlooking a quaint square in Lisbon’s old town, Alfama. Characterised by narrow, winding streets, steep staircases and orange trees, Alfama is simply charming and it was the perfect location from which the explore Lisbon. The city is really walkable and that’s essentially what we did for three days, racking up over 20k steps a day. Each.

Some particular highlights were walking up to Miradouro de Nossa Senhora do Monte for the best view of the city. Situated at the highest point, it is a romantic spot to hang out and watch the sun go down behind the rooftops and river beyond. We loved giving our feet a momentary rest and riding the 28 tram from Martim Moniz to Estrela Park and then slowly retracing our steps on foot. It is a very touristy thing to do but experiencing the rattling tram car navigate the narrow streets of Alfama and feeling like you’re on a rollercoaster when it lets loose on a steep hill makes it definitely worth doing. And it’s a great way of getting your bearings of the city.

Let’s talk food. Lisbon – or more generally Portuguese food – is not great for vegetarians so we opted for failsafe cuisines like Italian and Mexican. Valdo Gatti is a bio pizzeria in the Barrio Alto quarter that we stumbled upon on our first night and it was solid. The pizza was delicious, the prices were good and the service was quick. Always creatures of habit, we also returned to Valdo Gatti for lunch on our last day. On our second (and last) night, we really didn’t know what we fancied but after a quick Google, Lewis suggested a tacos place called Pistola y Corazon. Arriving to a queue out the door – yes, even on a Sunday night – we knew it would be good. We sat at the bar to avoid the wait and it made the whole experience much more personal and cosy. Again, the food was delicious, the prices were good and the service was quick. Plus, you get served endless bowls of handmade tortilla chips.

Following our Mexican meal, we headed to a cute bar I remembered going to with my mum and sister all those years ago. Café da Garagem is situated on the side of the hill and has stunning views over the city. Open until midnight every day, it is a really tranquil place where students can be found working during the day and locals hang out in the evening. We finished the night with a glass of red wine and a gooey chocolate cake and it was heaven.

This mini Lisbon guide would not be complete without an even mini-er guide to the city’s pastéis de nata. We tried three different pastelerias, each with different selling points. Pastéis de Belém is worth the hype – and the quick bus or train ride out there. The custard is very creamy, more egg-like than the others we tried and the pastry is extra crunchy. My sister had recommended Manteigaria, which has a few dotted around the city. These were out least favourite purely because they had a slight cinnamon taste to them. Our favourite pastéis de nata were from Pastry San Antonio, which we had on our first and last day. Perfectly creamy with a crunchy bottom, I could eat them for days on end.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this little Lisbon city guide. We didn’t find there was a lot “to do” there as such but it’s such a beautiful and relaxed city to walk around in. X

Photos taken on Olympus Mju ii.

January 10, 2019

Postcards from Paris & an Updated City Guide

Back in mid-December, Lewis and I headed to Paris for a long weekend. This has become somewhat of an annual ritual – it’s great to get away from the pre-Christmas madness (even if you’re just stressing about buying Christmas presents in another country) and Paris is wonderful at that time of year.

If you’ve been on this journey with me for years then you’ll know that I used to live in Paris, for three years during my early twenties. I am still utterly head over heels in love with that city and I always feel like I’ve come home as soon as the Eurostar pulls into Gare du Nord. Because of this, I guess I haven’t really done any travel style posts about Paris for a while, just covering our recent trips through outfit posts or over on Instagram. So, this time I decided to cover our trip on film and do a mini updated Paris city guide, sharing our favourite corners of the French capital that we head to time after time on our trips back. Enjoy!

Crêpes are always high on the list of food agenda when in Paris. We usually head to Chez Suzette in St Michel on our last day for pre-travel fuel but this time we also added another crêperie to our address book. Straight off the Eurostar on Friday evening, we met our friend Hannah who lives there and headed to Canal Saint Martin in search of some dinner. My favourite, La Marine, had a long wait so we went to Lulu La Nantaise for good old-fashioned galettes and crêpes. Situated just off the Canal, this small restaurant was the perfect setting for eating some gorgeous French food, drinking red wine and catching up. Top tip: when in doubt, always go for caramel au beurre salé…I’ll be back.

Top of the food agenda: croissants. And pains au chocolat. And pains au chocolat aux amandes. Ok just all the baked goods. And bread. The reason I could never be fully vegan – la boulangerie française. We always make a trip to what was our local-ish bakery when we lived in Paris, which is situated near Bastille on boulevard Beaumarchais. Maison Landemaine Beaumarchais does the best chocolate almond croissant ever. In fact, it’s all good – even the bread – and it’s perfectly situated for fuelling up on pastries before heading to Merci, The Frankie Shop and then into Le Marais for vintage shopping and wandering its pretty streets.

We’ve spent many a day in Paris just in Le Marais, browsing the shops and hopping from one food place to another. It’s my favourite area of the city – my old stomping ground. Once I’ve shopped, it’s usually time for lunch and we always head for falafel at Chez Hanna on rue des Rosiers. With a takeaway price of €6, it’s the cheapest, most filling and delicious lunch you’ll get. Then, if you’ve got space, head around the corner to Le Voltigeur for liquid hot chocolate and whipped cream, or come back when it starts to rain.

My final recommendation is a pizza place called Simonetta that we discovered on our trip to Paris back in May when, being situated on the Canal de l’Ourcq, it was the ideal place to head after a few drinks canalside in the sun. Having tried quite a few pizza places during our time living in Paris – Lucky Luciano, Grazie, Maria Luisa La Cerise sur la Pizza, to name a few – we have come to the conclusion that this is the best one. The dough is super soft and squidgy while the tomato sauce is the most delicious I’ve tasted and they aren’t sparing on the toppings either. I’d highly recommend opting for burrata to start – also the best I’ve ever had. To top it all off, the décor is to die for. Pale green velvet booths, big wicker lampshades, rows of plants; it’s an art deco meets retro heaven and makes an evening out there feel quite special.

May 2, 2018

White Jeans For A City Break In Barcelona

I’m writing this blog post on my lunchbreak and dreaming of being back in Barcelona, not just because Barcelona is awesome but because today it’s just absolutely freezing (I’m such a drama queen when it comes to weather). Luckily, this rainy Monday in London is just an anomaly (for now) and temperatures should be rising again in time for the bank holiday weekend – hoorah! Ok, weather report over, let’s chat about this look.

I bought these white Levi’s 501 jeans in a vintage shop in Montreal last spring, after years of searching for the perfect pair of white jeans. However, as Montreal’s spring lasted all of about two weeks, my white jeans didn’t get much air time last year, except for a blog post when I discussed the highs and lows of wearing white jeans. So, with a forecast of wall to wall sunshine and not too hot temperatures of 20 degrees, I thought a day strolling around Barcelona was the perfect time to get my white jeans out.

I kept the styling pretty simple and opted for a t-shirt and Converse to complete the look. Always wanting (and needing) to add some colour to my looks, I went for this 70s red and white striped tee that I picked up at in a recent vintage kilo sale haul. I just love its boat neckline, slim fit and the embroidery on the chest – which I’m guessing reads ‘mary’ but I could be wrong. Being still into the ever-popular colour combination of last summer – red and pink – I chose to add more colour with my pink Converse, wearing them with an exaggerated turned up hem. I finished off the look with my favourite Ray Ban round metal sunglasses, which I actually bought in Barcelona a couple of years ago. If you’re ever in Barcelona and fancy a new pair of Ray Bans, head to Optica Universitaria for amazing discounts on classic styles (not spon, just a fab tip!).

This is what I wore on our first day in Barcelona, exploring all of our old haunts, favourite streets and walking until our feet hurt (30k steps and new Converse made me a very footsore tourist). Parc de la Ciutadella has always been one of our favourite spots in Barcelona, we were lucky enough to live so close to this vibrant city park when we lived there, and this is where we shot this look. Not wanting to take my big Nikon DSLR, my film camera and my little Olympus Pen away with me to Barcelona (I have been known to do this on many trips), I decided to drop the DSLR and just shoot on film all weekend (with the exception of Instagram pics on my Olympus Pen).

I have been shooting film for years and years. I studied photography at A-level, where I learnt to develop my own film and since then it has been a great way of documenting the four years Lewis and I spent living abroad. However, since moving to London I have not been as inspired, although let’s be honest, the weather probably doesn’t help. Being back in sunny and colourful Barcelona gave me a fresh batch of inspiration and I really enjoyed shooting little bits of the city on film.

One thing I have not done much of is shooting outfits on film. It is something that I tried a few years ago on a dull day in Bristol but I didn’t stick at it. The problem with film is it’s a commitment and I don’t always know that I'll finish the roll on time to get it developed and ready to publish a blog post the next week. I often shoot just one outfit at the weekend so it’s always easier to just go digital. However, I definitely want to shoot more outfits on film. These ones didn’t come out quite as I had hoped – I don’t know why they are quite dark as it was such a bright and sunny day - but they do have a certain charm to them. Anyway, it’s a learning curve and I think Lewis, who takes my photos, actually preferred shooting on film because everything is much more considered. Now I just need to persuade him to shoot more than one look per weekend – or find some other creatives to collaborate with - get in touch! X

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Category: travel

A Love Note To The Beach

A Weekend In Bristol

Postcards from Lisbon

Postcards from Paris & an Updated City Guide

White Jeans For A City Break In Barcelona