Paris: Itinerary

I just got back from one of the best city breaks of my life and thought it only fair to share my itinerary so someone else could have an amazing trip also!

Day 1

Fly to Paris and check into Sofitel Paris Le Faubourg. This hotel was just completely perfect for us, the location and decor was wonderful, a perfect home away from home. We then walked through Paris to this wonderful italian restaurant that served the largest portions of delicious food.

Day 2

Disneyland! Do I need to say more? We got up and ate breakfast at Laduree (Just around the corner from the hotel) then walked to the main train station to catch the train to Disney. This is wonderfully easy – just ask for tickets at the desk and follow the Mickey Mouse. Once there we had pre-booked tickets and as it was a tuesday we just walked straight in.

No lie this was a day of pure magic, we went on rides, met Darth Vader and then watched Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show, which is not to be missed if you love horses. After the fireworks we just hopped on a train home and then got a taxi back to the hotel where we quickly fell asleep on our perfect pillows.

Day 3

Paris in a day!

This really was a tour of Paris in a day, in the morning we went to the Louvre. This was insanely busy, some of the art was amazing but by 11am we had to get out of there! We then had lunch at Cafe Maly which is a place to be seen at – the food is pretty great too.

We then got a scooter (Lime – I will pop a referal code at the bottom) to the Eiffel Tower where we went to the top on its 130th Birthday :). The views are super pretty and it was 25 Euros per person. We then scooted along the Seine back to our hotel.

For the evening we went and watch the Birthday light show at the Eiffel Tower and then came back and ordered room service, I would recommend going for dinner at Kong though if you wanted to go for a lovely meal.

Day 4

We had breakfast at our favourite (Laduree) then scooted down to Ile-de-France where we saw the Notre Dame and visited the beautiful flower market. We then went to Le Girafe Paris for lunch (reservation required) and finished by having dinner at Monsieur Bleu which is a lovely ‘fancy’ french restaurant – another place ‘to be seen’.

Day 5

Fly Home

I will do another blog about Lime Scooters by if you need a code for a free ride use my referral code: RQUBEXD

As always please follow by instagram for more @harrietkristina

Making New Friends as an Adult

‘Hi!’

‘Hi! Let’s be friends?’

‘Best friends’

Simple. I would guess that most children have had this conversation and as a result a lasting friendship. Someone to do random stuff with. Literally pick a human and go on adventures together. It’s not quite so simple as an adult.

Having moved around a fair amount (Dorset – London – Edinburgh – Dorset – Barbados) in the last five years, I’ve learnt that making new pals isn’t as easy, but it is definitely not impossible. So here are my top tips for making friends as a grown up person!

The best source of future friends are those with a common interest, so either work colleagues, people who have a common hobby or in a similar situation i.e. have children the same age. So make sure you talk to people at work in the lunch room and make sure you stay a little longer after classes or events.
Be friendly, obvious I know. Offer out that you’re new to the area and don’t know loads of people, or if you’re not new, offer out that you would like some friends with a similar interest e.g. ‘Oh it’s lovely to spend time with someone (who has also got 5 children, who loves riding, who is interesting in make up or who cares about health and food etc.) would you like to go get coffee sometime?’
Make note. Physically or mentally if you’re able. Remember people’s names, their kids names, their birthdays. Sounds a little much but people love to be remembered.
Say yes. ALWAYS SAY YES. People often take a ‘no, I can’t tonight’ as a ‘I don’t want to be your friend’, if you actually can’t offer up a time you can.
Don’t play games. Like all relationships the second you play games it becomes confusing. Just don’t. Be nice, be kind and treat others how you would like to be treated.
Be brave. Taking the first move is always scary, but you’ll either learn or gain.
Don’t take ‘rejection’ personally. If someone doesn’t have time to be your new friend, it may be because they are busy with their own life, or they are too caught up, it’s very unlikely to be personal. You’re better off just saying as aqantancies and trying with someone else.
Finally, friends can come in a form you may not expect. Do not exclude someone as they aren’t a carbon copy of yourself/your sister/your old bestie.

These are the things I try to remember every time I move. It has done me quite good stead and I can happily say I have always managed to make friends and some have even lasted distance and moving

One final and very important point is that you do not need an army of friends, all anyone needs is a few reliable people that you can confide in, plan a fun day with and trust to have your back. Great if you have a super large group of gal pals, but in my experience this is just more drama!

Over and out! As always please follow my instagram (@harrietkristina) for more 🙂

Riding: The start of a journey

Horses have always been a love of mine, I was fortunate enough to have lessons and attend Pony Camps as a child, as a teenager I rode sporadically, normally borrowing a friends horse for a hack, but nothing structured or regular. So now that I’ve got some spare time and needed a hobby to fill this up with (I’m just not a Netflix binger), I’ve naturally migrated back to ponies.

Don’t worry, I’ve ordered boots and more suitable clothing!

I am a beginner, past remembering how to hold the reins, I seem to remember very little about riding, and this is oh so very humbling, its also the best fun! My love and enjoyment while riding has definitely not changed. I wake up excited the mornings before my class, enlightening a memory of me waking and getting dressed at 5 am thinking this would mean I would get to go riding sooner at the age of six.

I’m four lessons in and making some good progress with my posture and trot as well as tracking up and post lesson baths for the horse. I may have already booked in my next ten lessons and a few treks :).

If you’re think about starting something new, or revisiting a childhood hobby, all I can say is do! You wont regret it. Life is about experiences and memories, about enjoying and trying.