Our family holiday in France during a summer heatwave

Here’s a few photos from our family holiday in France, during a crazy heatwave. Went to Paris and the old mediaeval city of Rouen.

I’d never been to Paris before as it happens and really liked it, think it’s a very creative city with some amazing patisseries. You can really see the 19th-century ‘radical at the time’ city planning still in place. I love travelling, exploring and discovering new places. Went via the Channel Tunnel and the trains, despite a few changes it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be and probably a bit quicker than a plane, with less CO2.

Historic sites and sights on our family holiday in France

Visited loads of cool buildings like the recently repaired Notre Dame Cathedral, Eiffel Tower, The Louvre, the Arc de Triomphe, Rouen Cathedral, an old chateau, Palais Bénédictine + others. Just wandering around, seeing new things was really good.

Also [slightly reluctantly] went to Disneyland Paris, the rest of the family loved it, me not so much. The rides were good and the Disney attention to detail was impressive but I struggled with the cost, sheer volume of people and sensory overload, I found it a bit overwhelming.

I found this with some of the other tourist attractions as well, the sheer volume of people made the experience a bit less enjoyable and for some of the locations, they were never intended to be used this way, in my opinion, such as Giverny, Monet’s house and garden. Not sure if it’s just me, maybe I’m too introvert for big tourist attractions. Made it to the Normandy coast and a quiet beach too, which was nice.

Whenever my daughter came across an iconic piece of architecture for the first time she did say, ‘Whoah, that’s cool’ so that made me feel a bit better amongst the crowds.

From France to the Lake District

Also made it to the Lake District for a few days at the end of August, which was very beautiful and very different. Took the bike with me and had a couple of great rides, thankful for living near the Peak District as the Lake District hills definitely prepared me.

I’m now back at work mentally refreshed, inspired and now back at it for the next few months.