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My Favourite Addresses in Rouen: Spas, Restaurants, Small Businesses
After 2.5 months in Rouen, we appreciate this city more or less. It is only 1h15 by train from Paris, people are 10 times nicer, everything is 5-10 minutes walk away… there are many small shops, conscientious specialized doctors (with easy appointment). Here are my favorite addresses (completed also by the owner of my Airbnb in Rouen). Rituals from Elsewhere Address: 17 Rue des Arsins, 76000 RouenGoogle MapsWebsite: http: //www.rituelsdailleurs.fr/ I should have tried other spas in Rouen, but I like this spa so much that I frankly didn’t feel like going anywhere else. They use the whole range of the “Charme d’Orient” brand, based on argan oil. Their oil…
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Saint-Wandrille Abbey (Seine-Maritime) and La Roche-Guyon (Val d’Oise): Travel diary
After a night in a bed and breakfast, next to the tree houses, to save money, we come back to spend a night in our Airbnb in Rouen, before visiting other places left unexplored last time for lack of time. Part 1: Travel Diary Part 2: Practical Tips Part 1: Travel Diary Saint-Wandrille Abbey Our first visit is to this abbey, which is the last one still brewing beer. The size of the parking lots worries us a little: parking 1, 2, 3… for cars, for coaches, for camper vans… it is so crowded at this point? Not today, because with the Covid, the schedules have been modified and we…
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Unusual: Tree Houses with Swimming Pool (Normandy), near Rouen & Caen
While looking for accommodation for our 3-day weekend near Rouen, JB came across a large farm run by a couple of former farmers. The farm is so big that they offer : a private gîte (for 8 people) 3 guest rooms 2 tree houses We opted for a bed and breakfast because at the base, we just wanted a place to sleep, but the owners also showed us the two cabins. We liked this farm so much that we want to tell you about it in a separate article. This post is NOT sponsored! I always had a little apprehension about tree houses because all the ones I saw on…
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July 2020 Favorites: French Brands made in France
“Thanks to Covid, we were able to stay in France for a long time. I took the opportunity to test some French brands, which are inaccessible to me on the other side of the planet. Jewelry My favorite jewelers. It is handmade, customizable and made in France of course. You can even visit their workshops. Beautiful Accident (of which I spoke here): jeweler who makes extraordinary models, 100% customizable, from the size, to the choice of materials and stones. Bruno is in the Marais. Black Iris : my jewelry teacher, she makes jewelry inspired by the ocean, the sea. To see her creations, you have to contact her because she…
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[Shopping] Beautiful Accident Paris, affordable Customized Jewelry
Just before the Covid, my sister and I went to the Marais for a massage. Being very early, we went around the neighborhood and my flair did the rest: I found a beautiful jewelry store: Beautiful Accident. The jewelry was so beautiful and well executed that I didn’t immediately grasp that it was made by ankle (an expression that means they are hand made), until I opened the door and saw the workshop, the tools and the jewelers. Having taken a few jewelry courses, I have some notions and what struck me was the technicality behind each piece of jewelry, I have never seen this type of jewelry, nor this…
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[Shopping in Paris] I bought Dior Rings in place Vendôme
After the Hermès squares at 24 Faubourg, we continue the series of luxury tourism / shopping in Paris with this article on Dior and their famous boutique on Place Vendôme Why Dior? When I discovered the “OUI” and “MINIOUI” collections at Dior, I was still a student, but I kept them in the surroundings of my head, waiting to be able to offer them to me one day. The years passed and my girlfriends started buying jewelry at Dior. I could see how it looked on them, it was even more beautiful than on the pictures. I told JB about it and at that time, our tradition was that he…
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[Shopping in Paris] I bought Hermès Scarves at 24 Faubourg Saint-Honoré Paris
In spite of my love for craftsmanship, handcraft, technicality … I confess I have never fallen for a single Hermès square. When JB was working in a sales depot, I have seen countless luxury items go through. After the initial excitement of touching and looking at them closely, by dint of seeing them pass through our workshop, they simply became ordinary objects, and we ended up finding them far too expensive for what they were. Until recently… We were driving through Normandy, I was half asleep and JB was putting the radio on so as not to fall asleep on the road, we came across a very interesting radio report…
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Small Cities of Character #2: Saint-Céneri-le-Gérei, Saint-Léonard-des-Bois, La Perrière and Mortagne-au-Perche
We continue our road trip in Mayenne / Perche. If it isn’t done yet, I invite you to read the first part of this mini road trip here. Part 1: Travel Diary Part 2: Practical Tips Part 1: Travel Diary Day 2: Saturday Wheat & Poppy Field Poppies are becoming rarer, contrary to what we saw in June, but we still manage to spot some flowered places. It is at the edge of a wheat field that we found them. I recovered a few heads, which I will dry and incorporate into my paper flowers. The presence of poppies in a wheat field is apparently a good sign: it means…
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Small Cities of Character #1: Le Sap, Camembert & Ecouché, 2 hours from Rouen
Another weekend of incredible wandering, which started off badly. We are still in Rouen and thanks to the car rental rates found at the pif by JB, we leave for a weekend from time to time, 2 hours maximum from Rouen. This weekend started off on the wrong foot: a girlfriend who was supposed to come and do the mini road trip with us, but she couldn’t make it. The weather was dull, with intermittent rain, and a headache not possible for me. Limit, I was too tempted to sleep in Rouen 🙁 but we were too lucky, I explain it all in this travel diary. Part 1: Travel Diary…
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Vinted Return Shipping: How to get reimbursed by PayPal?
If you don’t have a PayPal account yet, I can sponsor you. Click here to get 5€ discount for your 1st order (> 10€) Following some disappointing orders, I had to send the products back to the Vinted sellers. The problem: Vinted does not cover the return shipping costs. But, fortunately, these purchases were made with PayPal, which offers additional coverage. As a result, if Vinted reimburses me for what I paid the seller, PayPal reimburses me for the fees I had to pay out of my own pocket to return the product to the seller. I explain how to do it in this article If you don’t have a…
