7th September 2014 - Year One = Done! :)

It's our First Wedding Anniversary today! WHOOP! We survived the first year! I think that's a pretty amazing achievement if you ask me! :)

We went for breakfast before we started our day. It was ok. Not the massive plate of breakfast that Paul is used to, but that probably just means that it was normal person portion size!

We then got ready and headed our into the countryside! Big day of fun ahead!

First (and technically only) stop: Cheddar Gorge! Beautiful countryside and lots to do! Starting with Gough's Cave, which had an audio commentary. Not like the retro old days of a cassette walkman, this was a digital phone-like prong!

We got the full story and it was very interesting! The caves themselves were visually stunning! Nature is weird!

It's weird walking through as some of it sort of looks a bit fake! Like you're walking on a movie set of a cave, as it's all shiny and looks plastic. It's just wet! So cool though!

From there, we went to meet Cheddar Man! Ok, not really, as he's just a skeleton, but it was a museum of Prehistory. It was quite interesting, although learning about cannibalism is a little icky!

These are recreations of mammoth tusks. Taller than Paul. Scary.

Then there was the bit that gave me nightmares. Or would if I hadn't been merry when I went to bed...

Sorry if this haunts you too...but seriously, is there any need?! Reading the visitors' book at the end of the museum seems to suggest that I'm not the only one who thought this!

From there we had a look in a few shops and headed down to the next cave, Cox's Cave. This was far smaller and just something to look at really.

Through the cave is a game thing, what was billed as a 'Lord of the Rings' type mission. Sounds right up my street, no?

Yeah, it sucked. Got to be honest. Just walk through a bit of cave, listen to some story line which was pretty much a direct rip-off from Lord of the Rings, just with a few tiny alterations to the name and then into a cavern with a dragon and all you had to do was touch the crystal.

I'm sure kids would enjoy it. Adults in their 30s who weren't merry...not so much!

From there we headed straight up 'Jacob's Ladder' which were 274 steps uphill through a forest. On the way up there were little signs explaining the evolution of the planet as we know it. Including the dinosaurs. We were most amused by this one in particular.

He looks a little miffed, no? "Oh drat!"

At the top of the steps there is a watchtower to give 360 degree views over Cheddar and surrounding area. Where I stood to take a few pictures amused me!

Only I would stand somewhere that reminds me of home!

Fantastic views.

We walked for a while, pausing to admire the beauty of the surrounding area...and to take an anniversary selfie!

We had a really nice walk and felt that we were walking forever but as it was pretty, we didn't mind too much...we were just a little thirsty!

Some goats. Because.

We eventually got back to the village and decided to find a good local pub in which to have a drink and a bite to eat. Cheddar is actually really pretty, not just quaint and full of tourists!

Lovely!

We had a massive ploughmans' lunch (which I didn't take a picture of as we were so famished!) and a couple of ciders while we decided what we wanted to do with the rest of the day. We also celebrated the moment (ish) that we had been married a year. We guestimated about 2:30pm but as neither of us can remember exactly how late I was, we can't be certain!

We headed out to some more shops and looked around a cheese shop, sampling loads of different cheeses, which were amazing! Naturally we had to buy some as gifts for people!

Instead of taking an open-top bus tour around the area, we decided to head back to Burnham.

Our lovely B&B had got us some prosecco so we sat out on their back patio, played some music and enjoyed some sunshine! It was lovely!

Through that glass door ahead was the indoor heated swimming pool! We could have used it but didn't have time! Maybe next time, should we go again! :)

I also logged into Facebook on Paul's iPad (my phone was charging in our room and I had forgotten it all day!) and Facebook even wished us a happy anniversary!

Ah, memories!

I had also been trying to use up one last remnant from our wedding which seem to be lasting forever!

I still had 3 of these bad boys to finish off! We've been snapping pictures for AGES on these! Still have about 12 to be developed as they weren't finished. Plus they're expensive to develop! Especially when there is no guarantee that every picture will come out.

It started to get a bit chilly, so we headed back up to our room, fizz in hand, to relax and prepare for our evening's excursion! When we got in, we discovered that the owners of the B&B had left us a little something!

Aw! so nice of them! We decided not to drink it tonight though. Don't want to waste tomorrow with a sore head!

As it's Sunday, a lot of the town was shut. The nicest restaurant we could find that was open was a curry house! It was very highly rated on Trip Advisor, so we decided to go for it! We like curry and were planning on going there tomorrow, so why not tonight?!

It was fairly quiet in the curry house. We had some poppadoms to start and then our main courses arrived.

I had the Chandni Burnham on Sea Special...which was (needs to load menu to remember exactly!) lamb tikka, chicken tikka and tandoori chicken in a 'special' sauce. So when it arrived I was a little surprised!

It hadn't mentioned an omelette on the menu! Still, it was a nice addition!

Paul had something that I can't remember the name of which was labelled hot. It wasn't hot. I could have eaten it no problem. Shame really. My boy does like his hot curry!

Food was very good though and the biggest surprise was that we both ate pretty much all of it! That never happens! I normally wimp out but it was so delicious that it all was eaten!

Paul even had room for pudding! He ordered a hazelnut bomb (I think it was called - it's not listed on any menu!) and was a little bit surprised with what he got!

Tiny bomb! Thankfully, they had given us two spoons so I could help him eat that mountain of pudding! :)

We had a quick drink before heading back to the B&B. We were both shattered! The sea air is clearly getting to us! Nothing to do with the alcohol at all. No, sir!

PREVIOUSLY...

2013 & 2013 (Aw! Memories!)

18th July 2014 - Wayne's World! (Holiday Day 7!)

It's the last full day of our holiday today. Boo. I hate this day.

Determined for it not to just be a day of packing and misery we decided to head into Nice to do a little shopping and our last dregs of relaxation! So we beached there instead!

We've never been to the beach there before, so this is all new for us! It's a very rocky beach but we found a section which was mostly sand so set up camp there fore a few hours!

Check out the colour of that water! That's Cote d'Azur blue and I love it!

It was very breezy on this beach so we could have easily sat there for hours slowly frazzling in the hot hot sunshine! We didn't though. We only did it for a couple of hours, had some water then headed into Nice for some lunch.

Paul knew exactly where he wanted to take me for lunch so we scoured the streets until we found it.

Another. English. Pub.

He's so proud of himself!

It was quite a cool little place, to be fair. Very quirky. We ordered some lunch and waited to see what they'd come up with! Paul had Tuna Nicoise salad:

I had a chicken and bacon club sandwich...

It was totally yummy. Best sandwich I've had for a LONG time!

After lunch we wandered around the town for a little while having a look at the lovely tacky presents that were on offer and purchased a few beauties for our regular crew! We then went for a drink. Because that's what we do!

I love these lamp-posts but am confused as to why the clock is called Brian. Although I suppose if you're naming a clock, Brian is a good name. I had a fish called Brian once. The other fish ate his tail and he died. Sad times.

Anyway!

This is the place opposite where we were drinking. It's a pretty Mediterranean building. I like it!

When we were 'tat' shopping for our gifts, we also bought ourselves a gift. We usually buy it and this year is no exception.

This is the best olive oil we have ever tasted!

We enjoyed our drinky-poos and watched the world go by for a little while. There used to be street performers at this time but sadly not today. :(

You can see why Paul's drink cost more than mine!

We headed back to the apartment and started getting packed up. I hate this part. Always makes me a little sad. Plus it also makes me feel a little annoyed! We've only just unpacked!

I haven't had a 2 week holiday since I was a kid and I'm starting to think that might be a good idea! At least it makes it worth while unpacking your suitcase!

Once we were all packed up we sat on the balcony for a while and drank the posh pink champagne we had bought Paul's Mum for her birthday. It was nice! I filled up my glass and headed for the shower, then we headed down to the trusty restaurant at the bottom of the hill for our final dinner.

I had a meat platter.

There was salad underneath there, promise! It was good! Just a lot of cured meats. They used to do this sort of thing with a baked Camembert, which went down a treat between two of us. Shame they don't do it any more and haven't for many years! Bring it back!

Whilst sitting, feeling stuffed, we noticed on the wall next to me there was a buzzer. Paul kept daring me to press it and I said no.

If you think we left without him pressing it, you really haven't learnt anything about my husband, have you! ;)

We headed back up the hill and had a couple more drinks then I headed inside to finish as much of the packing as I could, only stopping to top up my glass! I'm good like that!

It was a pretty night view!

Once all the packing was satisfactorily done, it was time to head to bed before the epic day of sitting around an airport tomorrow commences. Sigh.

PREVIOUSLY...

2013

17th July 2014 - Hello Mr Blue Sky! (Holiday Day 6!)

4 years ago today (ish), a little black kitten with a tiny little voice came into the world. 4 years later he's not so small but still has a tiny little beep! Happy 4th Birthday, Barney Eric Kirkham!

It's another hot hot hot day here in Villefranche so I think it calls for another day on the beach! YEAH!

We creamed ourselves up good and proper with all the best intentions of being more vigilant at it, then wandered down the very steep hills to our little spot on the beach. We decided to not go quite as far down the beach this time, onto less rocky shores. It was nice. Different, but nice!

We stayed there a good long while and it was very good. We had a dip in the water which was still chilly but as we were both ridiculously warm, it was refreshing!

We dried off and then headed to one of the little pop-up cafes next to the beach for a sandwich. They were ok. Nothing special but then at the same time they weren't overly expensive and were delivered very quickly! The staff at this place are completely the opposite of where we were the other day!

We had a bit of a chill after lunch then headed back to find our towels were still in place so we lay out some more. It was REALLY warm! Just what we wanted! I was casually reading my book, lying on my stomach when all of a sudden I had the wind knocked out of me. I had been hit by a ball that some lads were playing with. They didn't even apologise to me. They put their hand up in recognition to Paul but not to the person that they hit. I was going to go kick off at them in my best scally Liverpool voice but thought better of it and went for a paddle instead. Where I got stalked by fish in the shallow waters! I wish I had my camera to take a picture of how close they were getting! I was scared of treading on them, they were that close to me!

After our swim and dry off we headed back along the harbour road, stopping to have another quick drink at the same bar we went to a couple of days previously. This time we managed to get a seat right on the water front so we got an even better view!

My future home again!

Or that one! I could live there!

We booked a table at a restaurant just down the road from the bar and then headed back home to the apartment for a pretty quick change over before heading back for our table! All 4 of us ready in an hour! It's a miracle!

The restaurant wasn't amazing. It was ok, but not amazing. Paul had some finger food which was pretty disappointing, Paul's Mum had salmon linguine which she didn't like very much so Paul ate some of that too. Paul's Dad and I had a steak-thing, with shallot sauce and creamed potatoes. I really liked it. Paul's Dad didn't.

So we all had pudding! I couldn't come to France and not have my favourite pudding at least once, right?

Mmmm, Creme Brulee! I mean, look at it! AMAZING!

Burnt sugar...Mmmmm!

We asked for the bill and were waiting a flaming long time so Paul's Dad went in to pay. It's only when we got back to the apartment that we realised that they'd added a whole extra main course to the bill and Paul's Dad hadn't noticed. What's worse is that it was more expensive than any of the meals we had actually ordered. Not impressed, restaurant. We won't be coming back.

We had a couple of drinks and watched the night for a while then headed to bed so we could get a good night's sleep before the last full day of holiday tomorrow. WAAA!

PREVIOUSLY...

2013