Côte d'Azur Day 1: Vallauris and Cannes

After eight months without leaving the UK, we finally went abroad again, spending four days in the south of France and Monaco. 

This is a trip that we were considering doing in April, after our holiday to Australia was cancelled, but we felt that we couldn't face planning another trip so soon after having to cancel one. In the end, we decided to go for Claudio's birthday in June, when the weather would be better.

This was a dream bucket list trip for Claudio, as he really wanted to visit Monaco to see the supercars! As for me, I had actually been to the area several times before, because my granddad lived in Cannes, but the last time I went was over 10 years ago, so I was keen to go back, revisit places I'd been to previously and explore new ones.

We chose to stay at Blanc Sable Hôtel, a hotel with very beachy décor, located in Vallauris, between Cannes and Antibes. We arrived from the airport quite late at night, so went straight to our room to go to bed. The room had a great view of the pool, overlooked by what appears to be a former church, and the bathroom came equipped with a full set of Fragonard toiletries.

We started off our first morning with a delicious breakfast by the pool (highlights being the coffee, pains au chocolat and fruit salad), followed by a swim and a bit of sunbathing. We definitely felt very much on holiday after that!

We then went for a walk by the beach near the hotel and ended up coming across a classic car exhibition. Claudio was super happy!

In the town, we came across this really cute bakery called Maison des Merveilles. It had some incredible looking trompe l'œil cakes!

We then took the train over to the glamorous city of Cannes in order to take in its sights, starting with Notre-Dame de Bon Voyage de Cannes church.

Next we headed over to the best-known place in the city, Palais des Festivals, where the famous film festival is held. The red carpet was out (though it was actually green!). There's a photo somewhere of me standing on the same carpet (red, on that occasion!) from around 15 years ago, but this time there was a big queue, so we just took a selfie from a distance!

We went for a wander round the area, taking in the views of the port, the hilltop neighbourhood of Le Suquet, the Hôtel de Ville, and the bus station (which is surprisingly pretty!).

We then went to get an ice cream from Nivà Gelato Italiano, which actually turned out to be some of the best gelato we've ever had.

However, since arriving in Cannes, I'd been struggling with some sort of allergy in my eyes; they were really stinging and I could hardly keep them open. Luckily, although it was Sunday, there was a pharmacy open near the gelateria, where we were able to buy some very expensive but effective eye drops. Once they'd started working, I was able to start enjoying the day a lot more.

Our next stop was Le Suquet, part of the city I'd never visited before. This is definitely the most historic area of Cannes, with an old church and the ruins of a castle. It reminded me a bit of the Citadella in Gozo.

After exploring Le Suquet, we went for a walk along the city's beaches.

We took a look at the Carlton Hotel, which is the most glamorous and iconic hotel in the city. Of course, there were plenty of supercars around, which Claudio was very happy about!

After enjoying a poke bowl and some iced tea, we took the train back to Golfe-Juan-Vallauris, went back to the hotel to get changed, and headed out to the local beach, where we spent a very happy hour or so swimming in the Mediterranean Sea.

It had been a great start to our trip, but Claudio's birthday was the following day, and some even more exciting adventures were coming our way!

May 2026 Travel Adventures: London Nights, Afternoon Tea and Regent's Park

May has been a month in which we've started to feel a bit of summer in the air - well, actually a lot of summer during the last week of the month! This has given us a good opportunity to enjoy more time outdoors, which is something that both Claudio and I love. Though we didn't visit any new towns and cities last month, we had some great experiences in and around Reading and London.

Here are some highlights!

Madejski Stadium and Green Park

We've ended up spending a fair bit of time in the Green Park area of Reading recently. At the beginning of the month, we went there to check out a café that Claudio's colleague recommended, and took the opportunity to check out the Madejski Stadium, the home of Reading F.C., while we were there.

The café, the Street Bakeshop at Lime Square, turned out to be a great recommendation. In fact, we ended up going back later in the month! The cakes and drinks are great, and the setting by the water is really lovely. It's definitely our favourite café that we've been to in Reading.

We enjoyed walking through the Green Park Business Park, an area which is surprisingly full of nature.

Green Park Village is always a super nice place to explore. Its lake and its North American architecture make you feel like you've stepped into a Hallmark movie!

We tried out the café in the village, Esquires Coffee. I hadn't heard of it before, but apparently it's a Canadian coffee chain, which feels appropriate for the setting. We enjoyed an iced coffee there, sitting in the sunshine next to the lake.

Friday night in London

One Friday, I received an email about a promo at Côte restaurants. We really like Côte, and feeling spontaneous, decided to take advantage of the promo, but in London rather than at home in Reading. So we ended up spending our Friday evening drinking great wine and eating delicious food next to the river with views of the City and Tower Bridge.

Going to London on a Friday evening feels completely different to going at the weekend - it's much less touristy and more relaxed. Given that we're only 25 minutes away from Paddington, we're going to try this more often in the future!

Afternoon tea at the Pantry, Reading

Who doesn't love a good afternoon tea? We certainly do!

When my parents visited us recently, we tried out the afternoon tea at the Pantry, which is the café located in Reading's Town Hall & Museum. At £18.50 per person, it's around half the price you'd usually pay for an afternoon tea in this part of the country, but was up there in quality with more expensive ones we've had in the past. The setting of the café inside the grand old building also gives it a really nice atmosphere. Would definitely recommend!

Reading "Beach"

A few weeks ago, there suddenly appeared a sort of beach bar type set up next to the river in Reading town centre. We went there a couple of times for a drink during the recent heatwave. It's quite nice to have a sort of beach to spend time at when it's hot and you live far away from the coast!

Regent's Park, Primrose Hill and Camden Town

We decided to spend the last day of the late May bank holiday in London, enjoying some outdoor spaces. One place we'd never explored together was Regent's Park, so we headed there first of all. Even though it was busy, the park is so huge that it still felt very tranquil.

London's second biggest park has plenty of attractions, including a beautiful little Japanese garden, complete with a waterfall.

Another highlight is Queen Mary's Rose Garden, which is so colourful and smells amazing.

We also went to look at London Central Mosque, a very impressive building.

After exploring Regent's Park, we moved on to Primrose Hill, climbing up to the top to enjoy the incredible view of the city's landmarks.

The final place we visited was Camden Town, which was somewhere we'd been meaning to visit for a while, not because we were especially interested in going, but because it's a famous area we hadn't visited yet. As expected, we didn't really like the vibe of the area (it smells a lot of both cannabis and body odour, and is very chaotic) but at least we can now say we've been!

That's all for our May travels, but June has already brought some very exciting travel adventures for us, in two foreign countries! Check back here soon to read all about it...