Explore. Dream. Discover.
Naked Treaties Cafe
2/3 Marvell Street
Byron Bay, NSW, 2481
Phone. +61 2 6685 7856
Opening Hours:
Mon: 8am – 4pm
Tue: 8am – 4pm
Wed: 8am – 4pm
Thu: 8am – 4pm
Fri: 8am – 4pm
Sat: 8am – 4pm
Sun: 8am – 4pm
Marché provençal d’Antibes
Cours Masséna
06600 Antibes
France
Sailing is great fun but when you can combine natural beauty, a tropical climate, a barrier reef, azure waters and a group of islands that are the Whitsundays, the experience becomes quite unique. The Whitsundays Islands are part of the Great Barrier Reef, a Unesco World Heritage site in Northern Queensland, Australia. It has one of the most diverse coral ecosystem making it one of the most beautiful scenery above and below the water.
We rented a boat for a week in Airlie Beach, stocked up the boat with food and set off. You need sailing experience if you want to go on your own with your group, otherwise you can hire a skipper for the trip. Exploring the Whitsundays national park lives you a lot of options such as like mooring in clear blue waters for lunch, snorkelling, swimming, island hopping, soak up the views from Hill Inlet and picnicking on Whitehaven beach, one of the most untouched, beautiful white sand beach in the world. You can also hire kayaks, stand-up paddle boards (SUPs), snorkelling and fishing equipment to board onto your yacht. We sailed around Hayman island, a hotel resort, Hook island, Whitsunday island, Hazelwood island, Lindeman island and Hamilton island.
As far as summer jobs go, growing up in France, being a lock keeper was my favourite. I was an ‘éclusier’ or lock keeper for several summers in Champagne, France, assisting barges through the middle of Champagne’s vineyards in Tours sur Marne and Mareuil sur Ay. A lock keeper’s job was to ensure smooth travelling of barges and the upkeep of its surroundings. Some ecluse are beautifully kept and sometimes the eclusier would sell fresh vegetables or fruits to barge owners or tourists going through the locks. The very large commercial locks are all automated now, however the smaller tourist locks on small canals or rivers, remain manual for the fun and experience of those travelling by peniche (houseboat).
When we cruised on the Lot river, they were all manual locks as there was no commercial traffic. Whether going downstream (‘avalant’ is the French technical term) or upstream (‘montant’) the process is the same, you need to close the lock and level the lock with your boat by either emptying the lock or filling it up. You use the sluice gates to do that which are handled by cranks usually located on the gates. Once done, you open the gate and move your boat inside, then close the lock, empty the lock or fill it up depending if you are going downstream or upstream respectively. Usually you release the sluice gates slowly during that process until the lock is half full or half empty to avoid having the boat rocking all over the chamber. It is highly recommended to have somebody inside the boat using a rope to control it inside the lock. Once the lock is levelled, it is time to open the gate and be on your way for more fun and more locks…
Café de Flore, Paris
172 Boulevard Saint-Germain, 75006 Paris, France
+33 1 45 48 55 26
The Rambagh Palace in Jaipur, Rajasthan is the former residence of the Maharaja of Jaipur and now a luxury Taj Palace Hotel, located 5 miles (8.0 km) outside of the walls of the city of Jaipur on Bhawani Singh Road. Built in 1835 on a modest scale for the queen’s favourite handmaiden Kesar Badaran, and later refurbished as a royal guesthouse and hunting lodge, the mansion was renamed Rambagh, after the then reigning Maharaja Sawai Ram Singh II. Rambagh remained the home of Jaipur’s Royalty until 1957, when it was first converted into an upscale hotel and is now managed by the Taj Resorts and Palaces group. For more information visit the hotel’s website.
We had an incredible time at the Rambagh Palace. The staff were very accommodating and great with our kids. The food was wonderful and we were spoilt for choice – in the morning we took a buffet breakfast in the Rajput Room a more casual all day dining experience, in the evenings we either enjoyed drinks at The Polo Bar or on The Verandah while we watched the evenings dance and music performances or had our palms read and we even tried Steam – a restored steam engine complete with a Victorian style station on site – you can either have a drink on the platform or have dinner inside the train! The kids can also have a play in the actual driver’s compartment.
The kids also loved chasing (or being chased) by the beautiful peacocks on the manicured lawns of the Rambagh Palace as well as swimming in both the indoor and outdoor pools. Each day, there was a new beautiful petal flower arrangements by the pools and around the paths leading towards the spa.
Marché provençal d’Antibes
Cours Masséna
06600 Antibes
France
A room with a majestic view on the Taj Mahal is what makes the Oberoi Amar Villas very special, it is one of the closest hotels and the views are its expansive grounds are ideal for pre-dinner walks and shows. The hotel is quite new and inspired by Moorish and Mughal architecture with a stunning entrance with arches, sandstones columns and 64 fountains. The swimming pool is huge and simply stunning, it was a perfect resting place after a long day of sightseeing at the Taj Mahal.
L’éclair de Génie
14 Rue Pavée, 75004 Paris
France
+33 1 42 77 85 11
http://thelocalharvestcollective.tumblr.com
We visited Marrakech during Ramadan in the month of July where the temperature rose to in excess of 40 degrees celsius. On those days we escaped to The Beldi Country Club, located about 20 minutes away by car outside of Marrakech for lunch and a swim.
The Beldi Country Club sits on 14 hectares and over a thousand rose bushes have been planted on the property which used to be an olive grove – the smell upon arrival was incredible. The Beldi Country Club includes a hotel with 28 suites, a spa and 2 restaurants – “El Badia” located outside for a more casual dining experience during the day and “le Palmier Fou” situated within the hotel for a more formal a la carte dining experience in the evening. During the day there is a mini souk where you can watch artisans at work as well as purchase carpets, tapestries, embroidery, pottery and glass.
We didn’t stay at The Beldi Country Club but made a reservation for lunch at the restaurant El Badia which is located right next to the 35m long swimming pool surrounded by olives trees. There are also 2 swimming pools dedicated to children. The restaurant offers Moroccan and Mediterranean cuisine with a French influence and the food was so good that we visited twice during the week that we spent in Morocco!
We asked our hotel to make a reservation and most taxis knew where it was located. Usually we were able to negotiate 40-50Dhs to get there from Gueliz but found that The Beldi hotel reception can also arrange transport back to your hotel or riad for 50 Dhs in an air conditioned private car (for the same price as an unconditioned taxi).
The Beldi Country Club address is Km 6, Route de Barrage, “Cherifia” Marrakech Morocco. For more information and pricing visit the Beldi Country Club website.
Note: As we visited during Ramadan, the Beldi was very quiet and we were easily able to make a lunch reservation on the same day. The souk however was closed as well as the hotel shop. Both restaurants, the hotel and spa however remained open. I was advised, that apart from Ramadan to make a reservation as it is very popular with the expat crowd.