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Valentine’s Day Gift Guide

Valentine's Day Gift Guide / Gift Guide for Her

Who loves Valentine's Day? I do and lots of you must also because for the last few years I've been asked for gift guides for Valentine's Day and other important days of celebration. I promised myself and some of you, that this year would be the year for beautifully curated and French inspired gift guides full of products that you could easily purchase.

So kicking off 2023's first gift guide is our Valentine's Gift Guide with selected products from Amazon. Easy to purchase, with a super delivery network and selected for the discerning Francophile femme, I'm sure there'll be something for everyone! Many ideas would also work well for Mother's Day and birthdays, so save this post to help your gift shopping go effortlessly this year.

Salies de Béarn – The Venice of Béarn

Salies de Béarn - The Venice of Béarn

Salies de Béarn is a picturesque town in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in south-western France. It is affectionally called the Venice of Béarn because of its canals that meander through the town under overhanging half-timbered houses and ancient buildings.

Salies de Béarn is famous because of its thermal spas that are feed with the naturally occurring high content salt water from the springs under the town. There is more however to this lovely town than just the popular thermal spas and salt water medicinal treatments. I've put together a list of the top things to do in Salies de Béarn so you can make sure you don't miss a thing when you visit the Venice of Béarn.

Salies de Béarn – A Thermal Spa Town

Salies de Béarn - French Thermal Spa Town

Salies de Béarn is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in south-western France and is home to wonderful thermal spas. The name of the town even comes from its naturally saline water.

Recently I met Jo de Magneval online, a lifestyle documentary photographer and fairly new permanent resident of the beautiful town of Salies de Béarn. Jo agreed to share why she loves Salies de Béarn and her experiences of relocating her family from the UK and calling the town home. It's a perfect story to share this New Years as Jo, her French husband and children up and left the UK for France on, would you believe it, New Year's Eve.

I'm sure you'll love meeting Jo and reading more about this unique town. As a special treat we're also delighted to be able to showcase Jo's own photos of the region in this post. Jo has beautifully blended the splendour of the area with her family candidly enjoying their new life in France.

Dried Orange Wheel Christmas Decorations

Ever wanted to make dried orange wheel Christmas decorations? I've wanted to create these little Christmas DIY decorations for a couple of years now and finally I've done it. It's been one of the pre-Christmas activities that I've enjoyed the most this year, so I wanted to share the process with you all. They look amazing, add a fresh citrus fragrance to your home and satisfy the creative urge that often hits around this time of the year. All in all, a perfect family activity and Christmas decor idea.

I'll explain how to make dried orange wheel decorations, what you can do with them and my own photos of the process including hanging them on our Christmas tree this year.

Marie Curie – Polish French Physicist

Marie Curie - Polish French Physicist

There are some people that are just simply extraordinary and who change the course of history. Marie Curie is one of these people. Marie Curie was a Polish French Physicist who changed the course of medicine and is one of France's honoured scientists. Marie Curie was born Marie Sklodowska but is mostly known as Marie Curie.

Life Story of Marie Curie

Marie Curie was born on 7 November 1867 and died on 4 July 1934. Marie was the daughter of a secondary-school teacher and gained a general education in local schools. Her father also taught her scientific procedures. After becoming involved in a students’ revolutionary organisation she thought it best to leave Warsaw (which was dominated by Russia at the time). She moved to Cracow which was under Austrian rule at the time to study physics and chemistry and then later moved to France.

French Baguette Gets UNESCO Heritage Status

The French baguette gets UNESCO heritage status - The world is celebrating with France on the announcement by UNESCO that the baguette has been granted world heritage status as "something worthy of humanity’s preservation."

The baguette has been added to UNESCO's intangible cultural heritage list, with the status being specifically granted to the savoir-faire (known-how) on how the French bread is made and the culinary tradition of the bread.

Tartiflette au Reblochon Recipe

Tartiflette au Reblochon is also known as Potato and Reblochon cheese gratin. It's a creamy potato gratin (baked dish) with melted Reblochon cheese on top and a perfect winter comfort food.

As the temperature keeps dropping in France and winter is just around the corner, baking this dish is a good idea for lots of reasons. The kitchen gets toasty warm with the stove top and oven going, it's an easy dish to enjoy sitting beside the fireplace on a cold night and most important for me, it's easy and very tasty. A nice dish to share among friends!

20 Photos to Inspire You to Visit Paris in the Fall

Paris in the Fall

Paris in the Fall. Paris is always a good idea no matter what the season, but many of us have a favourite time, or season of the year, that speaks to us and pulls at our heart strings. What is it that draws us to Paris at a particular season?

Winter with cold days is perfect for sipping a warm drink in a café, or bundling up in cosy clothes and enjoying some of the famous sights with less tourists. Winter also has a certain calm charm about it, and I love that you can see the architecture of the buildings more clearly with the trees bare and exposed.

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Valentine’s Day Gift Guide

Valentine's Day Gift Guide / Gift Guide for Her

Salies de Béarn – The Venice of Béarn

Salies de Béarn - The Venice of Béarn

Salies de Béarn – A Thermal Spa Town

Salies de Béarn - French Thermal Spa Town

Dried Orange Wheel Christmas Decorations

Dried Orange Wheel Christmas Decorations

Marie Curie – Polish French Physicist

Marie Curie - Polish French Physicist

Life Story of Marie Curie

French Baguette Gets UNESCO Heritage Status

French Baguette Gets UNESCO Heritage Status

Tartiflette au Reblochon Recipe

Tartiflette au Reblochon Recipe

20 Photos to Inspire You to Visit Paris in the Fall

Paris in the Fall

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