All posts tagged: Travel

Running in Heels Review: La Clairière, Alsace

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This was originally posted on Running in Heels following a press stay at La Clairière in Alsace. Even in the dim evening light, the quaint villages between Strasbourg and eco spa hotel La Clairière are a fairytale feast of delicate gabled roofs and charming crooked cottages. Further on, as you speed  through dark forests, the impression grows stronger until, suddenly, La Clairière looms up out of the foliage like Rapunzel’s tower. I, however, had not come to eat enchanted gingerbread or drink magical wine – or indeed, anything approaching either of those at all. Instead, I was here for a detox programme, one of the many wellness programs offered by the Alsace-based spa hotel. Three days, scores of treatments, four-course detox lunches and dinners and unlimited use of the spa – I was ready to go. First though, I headed upstairs to check out my room, which was far more traditional than the brightly coloured communal seating area downstairs and equipped with twin beds, a living space with a sofa, two balconies, a TV, mini bar and kettle with …

Foodie Milan for The House of Peroni

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A few weeks ago I was approached by The House of Peroni. They wanted to know if I was up for being sent to Milan to review a couple of restaurants for the magazine. What do you think my answer was? You guessed it, YES! So a couple of weeks ago, I packed a rucksack and headed on my merry way to one of the world’s most fashionable cities for a couple of nights. I was in Milan to try U Barba for lunch and Cascina Cuccagna for dinner. But I knew my trip would not be complete without sampling the incredible aperitivo on offer, so I arranged to meet a friend of a friend on the Friday evening and trundled alongside the disused canal on Ripa di Porta to meet her at Rebelot for aperitivo, a gin based cocktail and to sample three dishes from the sharing menu. The cosy and atmospheric restaurant, which shares a kitchen with Al Pont De Ferr, a Michelin starred restaurant a couple of doors down, was the perfect …

Hotel Pont Royal, Paris

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I felt very lucky on my birthday last year – lucky to have a friend so lovely that she bought me a return ticket to Paris on the Eurostar. We decided to go in late January for a couple of nights, which gave us a lot to look forward to following the December Christmas celebrations. We stayed at Hotel Pont Royal for the first night and moved up north closer to the station for the second. We caught the early Eurostar train from King’s Cross and three hours later arrived at the hotel where we checked in and dropped our bags off before heading straight out to wander around the streets of Paris. While we were waiting to check in, we glanced up and saw pictures on the wall of famous American intellectuals, who back in their heyday made Hotel Pont Royal their Paris home. The cocktail bar was a thing of beauty – dark and lavish and we learned it was one of the leading cocktail bars in Paris from the 1920s and frequented …

Dar les Cigognes, Marrakech

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After our short stay at Four Seasons, we ventured into the old town of Marrakech, the Medina. We were prepared for chaos in Marrakech after reading the guidebooks and listening to friend’s stories, but upon arrival in the Medina, we were subjected to true taste of what it is like to be a tourist in Marrakech. The taxi driver stopped and asked a local lad for directions to Dar les Cigognes, the riad that we were to stay in for two nights. The lad and driver exchanged a few words in Arabic before we were told that we were in capable hands and the lad would show us on our way. We paid the driver, pulled our suitcases out of the boot and followed the lad, down windy alleyways, past a flurry of oncoming mopeds, when we finally arrived at the riad. The boy rang the bell and asked for money for showing us the way. We politely declined and rushed through the door once open. Here we encountered our first problem; we were directed …