by Helen Kain | Nov 27, 2018 | Castles & Stately Houses, England, Entertablement Abroad, Gardens and Flowers
Now we get to step inside the house and see what they’ve done for Christmas! The house is shut completely for a week in early November and a horde of National Trust volunteers set to work decorating a sub-set of the rooms that are usually open to visitors....
by Helen Kain | Nov 26, 2018 | Castles & Stately Houses, England, Entertablement Abroad, Gardens and Flowers
If there was ever a fairytale setting for a Christmas market, it has to be Waddesdon Manor. Locations, find me a dream! Coming right up, ma’am. While we are frequent visitors to England, our visits usually revolve around the vintage racing schedule, (Mr...
by Helen Kain | May 20, 2017 | Beautiful Towns, Chateaux, Entertablement Abroad, France, Gardens and Flowers
The Loire Valley is utterly gorgeous in the spring – abundant lilacs, colourful bulbs and tumbling wisteria. I’ve done a quick recap of some of my favourite spots from our trip a couple of years ago. In putting together the collage, I noticed I chose...
by Helen Kain | May 16, 2017 | Castles & Stately Houses, England, Entertablement Abroad, Gardens and Flowers
It’s getting to be tulip time here at home, which brought to mind the gorgeous display we saw at Montacute House on one of our visits to England. While red and yellow tulips are not my favourite combination, they are stunning here. The colour is just...
by Helen Kain | Apr 16, 2015 | Beautiful Towns, Entertablement Abroad, France, Gardens and Flowers
The following day we set out for Sarlat, in the Dordogne. Loading the luggage into the car, we bid farewell to the wonderful staff at Hotel de Minimes and settled in for the drive. The town of Sarlat has been around since Roman times, its fortunes waxing and waning...
by Helen Kain | Apr 15, 2015 | Chateaux, Entertablement Abroad, France, Gardens and Flowers
It was our last day in Amboise, and we had time to see one more Chateau. Anxious to see the “rest of the story” between Diane de Poitiers and Catherine de Medici I voted for Chateau de Chaumont. I was dying to see the...