Archive for 'Pretty Views in France'

This week, I have been discussing the magic of Christmas in Paris and getting a little bit more personal on this blog. Paris is a city that I adore and, in all my visits to the city, I have come to love it most at Christmas. I have only been twice during the festive season but memories of both trips make me want to book a vacation rental in Paris and visit every December to enjoy the particular charms of the city in the run up to the holiday season.

In the last two posts, I recounted the most traditionally romantic experience one could have of the city but in this one I want to talk about my favourite trip to Paris over Christmas.

Of all the times I have visited Paris, those in the run up to the Christmas season have been the most incredible and magical. The city is even more beautiful and charming during the Christmas holidays and there are plenty of practical reasons to find a vacation rental in Paris and plan a December – smaller tourist crowds, especially picturesque, better availability etc – but in these posts I have been reminiscing about my own personal experiences of the festive capital of France and why I think everyone should spend at least one Christmas in the city....

Of the many times I have visited Paris, I have been to the city during the festive season twice and both were utterly magical and the best experiences of Paris that I have ever had. If you're looking to spend Christmas abroad or go on a little trip during the festive season, a vacation rental in Paris is sure to deliver.

One of the most famous couturiers of all time, Christian Dior, was born in 1905 in the seaside town of Granville, in Normandy, into a wealthy family. He was raised by his mother in Villa Les Rhumbs, a 19th century Belle Epoque clifftop villa that overlooks the sea. This idyllic and beautiful place is now the only "Musée de France" labelled French museum that is wholly dedicated to a couturier. Celebrating Dior's life and career, the museum also boasts stunning views and surroundings and a wonderful garden in the style of an English landscape park that was designed by his mother, Madeleine Dior, and is a rare example of one of the few remaining early 20th century artists' gardens.

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The charming city of Rennes, with its Medieval historic centre, beautiful piazzas, and incredible architecture, has a wonderfully relaxed atmosphere and boasts lots to see and do. One thing that we recommend, in particular if you have found a vacation rental in Brittany and are exploring the city, however, is grabbing a good book, picking up a coffee and going for a wander and a sit in Parc du Thabor, one of France's most beautiful parks.

Elegant and romantic and well-planted with colourful flowers, it was previously part of the orchards of the former Benedictine abbey of St-Mélaine. In the 19th century, the park was redesigned by Denis Bühler, a famous 19th-century landscape artist, and boasts endless flowers, trees, a duck pond, a waterfall, a playground, a rose garden, an aviary, a bandstand, greenhouses and an orangery. Eventually opened as a public space it was originally only allowed to permit the entry of men but it now an integral part of city life and a beloved space that is open to all.