London In The Summer With Kids By Jess

We love London; no surprise there! Out of the four people living in our house, three of us have lived in London for their whole life, and we all agree that it is an incredible place to visit. Lately, our family have been involved in two amazing projects to do with London, and they both were wonderful experiences.

Mum and Rob meeting the "Lord Mayor", Morris (as opposed to Boris!)

Firstly, we were invited to go to the opening of Top Trumps: 30 Things To See In London, where they launched their newest theme - all about London!

My brother Robert loves Top Trumps, so we were all very excited to attend the launch. We discovered that the new game would have information about different landmarks in London, and that children and their parents would be able to use the Top Trumps as a kid friendly tour of the best places to go to in the city.

Rob on an old bus in the transport museum

First of all, we were greeted by the Night-Mayor in front of the London Transport Museum, and were given a sheet full of questions about London landmarks. For half an hour we looked around the museum, and learnt cool facts about trains, buses and more. After this, we went on a bus and saw sights such as Big Ben and Tower Bridge. The day finished with a trip up the Shard, which was looads of fun.

Another amazing experience that Rob and I loved was helping to film a video about the best things to do in London, which is here. We were asked to get involved by Bound Round.



It was a really strange experience to be filmed and talk to a camera, but it was loads of fun and we love the video. We hope you find it useful!

Read more posts about London:

A Great Trip To Buckingham Palace By Me

The London Dungeons By Robert

London In The Summer With Kids By Jess

We love London; no surprise there! Out of the four people living in our house, three of us have lived in London for their whole life, and we all agree that it is an incredible place to visit. Lately, our family have been involved in two amazing projects to do with London, and really enjoyed them both.

Mum and Rob meeting the "Lord Mayor", Morris (as opposed to Boris!)

Firstly, we were invited to go to the opening of Top Trumps: 30 Things To See In London, where they launched their newest theme - all about London!

My brother Robert loves Top Trumps, so we were all very excited to attend the launch. We discovered that the new game would have information about different landmarks in London, and that children and their parents would be able to use the Top Trumps as a kid friendly tour of the best places to go to in the city.

Rob on an old bus in the transport museum

First of all, we were greeted by the Night-Mayor in front of the London Transport Museum, and were given a sheet full of questions about London landmarks. For half an hour we looked around the museum, and learnt cool facts about trains, buses and more. After this, we went on a bus and saw sights such as Big Ben and Tower Bridge. The day finished with a trip up the Shard, which was looads of fun.

Another amazing experience that Rob and I loved was helping to film a video about the best things to do in London, which is here. We were asked to get involved by Bound Round.



It was a really strange experience to be filmed and talk to a camera, but it was loads of fun and we love the video. We hope you find it useful!

Read more posts about London:

A Great Trip To Buckingham Palace By Me

The London Dungeons By Robert

Carlton Towers: an unusual overnight experience staying in a stately home

Jess and I had an unusual experience a few weeks ago when we stayed overnight in a stately home. This is not something we - and I am guessing you - are used to. And it was unlike anything we'd experienced before...

The stately home in question is called Carlton Towers and is in the small village of Carlton (now, there's a surprise), near Selby in Yorkshire. We were there to make macaroons (and you can read about this, excellent experience, on the Britmums blog) and, because we live in London, it was suggested that we could stay overnight before the course began the following morning. This option is something that other guests coming to Cooks, the Carlton School of Food, are offered, as otherwise all attendees would have to live nearby. However, I imagine that the experience will be rather different from ours. I am assuming that, as Cooks becomes more established, the overnight issue will evolve.

I should say first that Carlton Towers is glorious. It is a magnificent house, the ancestral home of the Duke of Norfolk and can trace its roots back to the Domesday Book of 1086. Today's house (the residence of Lord Gerald Fitzalan Howard, a direct descendant of Edward I) dates back to early Jacobean times although much of it was built in the 19th century and is Victorian Gothic. It really is a spectacular building, set in 250 acres of land. You can see at first glance, especially once you've walked through the very beautiful Venetian drawing room, why it would be an excellent wedding venue, and indeed it does host a number of these. As we found out.

We were told before we came, that Carlton Towers was not, and this was emphasised, a hotel. That may be true, but if you are going to allow people to stay overnight, you do have to look after them. At least a little.

We came on the train from London to Selby. We arrived at Carlton Towers in the late afternoon and were greeted by someone who told us that there was a wedding going on, so could we please stay in our bedroom until at least 6.30pm. This was rather a surprise, especially as the bedrooms had no television, radio or wi fi (or at least, wi fi which worked). We were offered a drink (funnily enough, the first thing you see when you enter the house is a wooden bar), but no food, and waited. We were rather hungry, and pretty much trapped! I have to admit that we felt abandoned.

We peeked out of our room a little later to see if it was safe to explore. It wasn't until after 7pm.

We had been told to arrive by 6.30 as that was when we would be having supper. In fact, we had brought some glad rags to wear, so were a bit baffled when we were brought up some hunks of cheese, a small quiche and salad on a plate. We were also given a bowl of fruit (but no knives to cut the fruit up). This was not quite the supper I was expecting, and, as mentioned, if you have guests to stay over, you need to look after them or at least warn them in advance that the supper will be light and small. The next day, at the macaroon making, we were given tea and cake, and that would have been a pleasant addition to our evening meal.

I asked the guy who brought our food if he could perhaps bring us some more bread as we were really hungry and he came back with a bowl of tortilla chips (apparently all he could find!). We guzzled them all up, but  I have to say, we were not at all full, and were also uncomfortable as we had to eat on our beds. It was such a strange experience.

However, when we were able to explore a little, we did feel privileged. After all,  when do you ever get to go a place like this and wander around? Normally you pay for admission and walk through rooms with a guide, standing behind roped off areas. At Carlton Towers we could just mooch about our own way. This meant visiting the Venetian hall, going into the library area, seeing what books Lord and Lady Gerald enjoyed reading (lots on architecture and horses, plus some by Miranda Hart and Rupert Everett) and admiring the many family photos (including some with the Pope, no less). We also went up into the Clock Tower and admired the remarkable views.

In the Venetian hall

I love history (as you may know from reading this blog), so it was amazing to walk around the house. We still felt a bit intimidated though as it was huge and there wasn't anyone there to tell us any information or point out exactly what we should take note off. We weren't exactly sure where to wander and were scared off at one point by the barking of Lord Gerald's dog! Still, what a place. There were so many rooms, twists and turns, lots of staircases and paintings. But with all those rooms, with all their knick knacks, I have to admit that I kept thinking 'what a place to keep clean'!

The following day we had breakfast downstairs before starting the course. We then went downstairs (again) to the kitchen area, and that was brilliant. The kitchens have been redone, but still have a real sense of Downton Abbey about them.

A montage of the names of all the different, original, rooms downstairs in the kitchen area

After the course we were shown around and that's when we felt we learnt about the history of the house and (by far the best bit) were shown the priest hole below one of the rooms in the nursery Wing (which houses the five oldest bedrooms).

Pulling up the trap door to the priest hole

This was used to hide a Catholic priest during the Reformation, until he was discovered and killed on the lawn. It was really strange looking through the glass panels into the room below, while access was down an old staircase hidden in a cupboard. That room must have witnessed some amazing stories.

The steps down to the priest's hole

Inside the priest's hole

So, all in all, we had a fascinating and unusual time. We didn't really feel looked after (at least until the course) but we did feel as if we were experiencing something genuinely different. If we came again, however, we'd bring some food!

Read about:

Our visit to Dr Johnson's House

Our visit to Hever Castle

Disclosure: We stayed over at Carlton Towers to take a macaron course which was on a complimentary basis. All the opinions contained in the blog post, however, are ours.

Carlton Towers: an unusual overnight experience staying in a stately home

Jess and I had an unusual experience a few weeks ago when we stayed overnight in a stately home. This is not something we - and I am guessing you - are used to. And it was unlike anything we'd experienced before...

The stately home in question is called Carlton Towers and is in the small village of Carlton (now, there's a surprise), near Selby in Yorkshire. We were there to make macaroons (and you can read about this, excellent experience, on the Britmums blog) and, because we live in London, it was suggested that we could stay overnight before the course began the following morning. This option is something that other guests coming to Cooks, the Carlton School of Food, are offered, as otherwise all attendees would have to live nearby. However, I imagine that the experience will be rather different from ours. I am assuming that, as Cooks becomes more established, the overnight issue will evolve.

I should say first that Carlton Towers is glorious. It is a magnificent house, the ancestral home of the Duke of Norfolk and can trace its roots back to the Domesday Book of 1086. Today's house (the residence of Lord Gerald Fitzalan Howard, a direct descendant of Edward I) dates back to early Jacobean times although much of it was built in the 19th century and is Victorian Gothic. It really is a spectacular building, set in 250 acres of land. You can see at first glance, especially once you've walked through the very beautiful Venetian drawing room, why it would be an excellent wedding venue, and indeed it does host a number of these. As we found out.

Read more »

An Amazing time In Northern France With School Part Two

As I explained in my last post, I went on a trip with the rest of my school year to Northern France (mainly Normandy and Brittany) to learn French, and had a fabulous time. Here are some more things that I really enjoyed...

The Chateau Of Fougères

The Beautiful Castle In Fougères

Fougères is a lovely town on the border of Normandy and Brittany, and it is fascinating - the castle was originally only a wooden fort, but was destroyed by King Henry II of England in 1166, and quickly rebuilt by Raoul II Baron de Fougères. The castle wasn't involved in the Hundred Years' War until 1449, when it was taken by surprise by an English mercenary. In 1488 the French troops won the castle back after a siege and the castle lost its military role. Today the castle belongs to the municipality and is one of Europe's largest medieval fortresses.

There is loads to see inside the castle, as there is just so much history to explore. We walked up one of the 13 towers and looked at the sublime views, before learning about what life was originally like in the castle and discovering cool facts about battle tactics. Something that really interested me was that French windows were slimmer than English ones, as they used crossbows for defence, whereas Englishmen used bows and arrows.

The castle also provides audio tours.


St. Hilaire-du-Harcouet Market

My friends and I had a wonderful time running around this market. Using our French skills, we bought pretty much everything! The market sold so many things from pastries to paintings, cheese to chocolates, and we wasted an awful lot of our money...

Everyone was friendly, all the food was fresh and delicious and the atmosphere was incredible. however, the best part by far was trying to haggle. I spent aaages trying to convince a man to let me have a purse for four euros instead of five! Luckily, I succeeded, and by the end of it my friends and I were in fits of laughter.

The market was probably the highlight of the whole trip, especially because a crepe with sugar was only 50 cents...

The D-Day Museum - A 360° Film

After a long drive, we were all delighted to finally get to the D-Day Museum. We didn't go through the whole museum, as we only had enough time to watch a 360° film. It was projected onto screens all around the room, and showed unbelievable film footage and pictures from the war.

It was very well put together, and included astonishing videos such as bombs falling down from aeroplanes onto land, tanks and an especially haunting one of a man having his face sewn up. The film was very moving, and afterwards I was blinking back tears.

Omaha Beach

Omaha Beach, commonly known as Omaha, was the code name for one of the five sectors of the Allied invasion of German-occupied France in the Normandy landings on 6 June 1944, during World War II. Nowadays, it a graveyard for the American soldiers of the war.

The graveyard is full of trees, plants, and rows and rows of white crosses and Stars of David for Jews. While walking around the graveyard,  I felt extremely emotional thinking about all the people who lay in the graveyard, and even cried at the anonymous graves, just thinking about the fact that no one even knew who the person was, let alone anything about them. It was lovely to see the flowers put by them, and even though we spent an hour walking by the graves, I wanted to spend the rest of the day visiting every single one.

So, those were my highlights of a brilliant trip to Northern France. Even though everything was so diverse and it was quite isolated, I still had a fantastic time and loved every second. I would definitely recommend a visit.

Read my first post on my trip to Northern France

An Amazing time In Northern France With School Part Two

As I explained in my last post, I went on a trip with the rest of my school year to Northern France (mainly Normandy and Brittany) to learn French, and had a fabulous time. Here are some more things that I really enjoyed...

The Chateau Of Fougères

The Beautiful Castle In Fougères

Fougères is a lovely town on the border of Normandy and Brittany, and it is fascinating - the castle was originally only a wooden fort, but was destroyed by King Henry II of England in 1166, and quickly rebuilt by Raoul II Baron de Fougères. The castle wasn't involved in the Hundred Years' War until 1449, when it was taken by surprise by an English mercenary. In 1488 the French troops won the castle back after a siege and the castle lost its military role. Today the castle belongs to the municipality and is one of Europe's largest medieval fortresses.

There is loads to see inside the castle, as there is just so much history to explore. We walked up one of the 13 towers and looked at the sublime views, before learning about what life was originally like in the castle and discovering cool facts about battle tactics. Something that really interested me was that French windows were slimmer than English ones, as they used crossbows for defence, whereas Englishmen used bows and arrows.

The castle also provides audio tours.

Read more »

An Amazing Time In Northern France With School (Part One)

The Chateau

Zipwire

A few weeks ago, I had the amazing experience of going on a trip to Normandy with my school to learn French. We visited lots of wonderful places in Northern France, and here are my highlights from the trip...

Accommodation
Our year stayed at Chateau Beaumont, a lovely chateau built between 1837 and 1852. It is surrounded by loads of grass and places to explore, and on some afternoons we took part in fun activities, such as tir à l'arc (archery), tyrolienne (zip wire) and escrime (fencing). All of the instructors were so much fun, made us use French as much as possible and were really encouraging - so much so that they somehow managed to get me to climb all the way to the top of an incredibly difficult climbing wall!

Our room was nice, and actually very spacious for a group of ten people. I was lucky enough to be placed with my best friends, and we had a fabulous time together.



Every night we had evening activities, such as French night (we dressed up as stereotypical French people, took part in a quiz and went down a catwalk), egg drop (we had to create a protective case for a raw egg and drop it from the top of the chateau) and a disco.

Saint. Malo
My friends and I only spent a short amount of time at Saint Malo, but we still really enjoyed ourselves. It is a perfect destination for tourists as the shops sell pretty much everything; our favourites were a fantastic chocolate shop and a VEGETARIAN SWEET SHOP - it was like a dream (we don't eat gelatine, so finding the right sweets can be a challenge).

Le Mont Saint Michel

The beach at Saint Malo is beautiful. The sand is soft and an amazing shade of yellow, and the sea was perfect and really warm. It was one of the only beaches I have ever been to which was unspoilt by rubbish and tiny fish swam around our ankles.

Mont Saint Michel
Le Mont Saint Michel is a picturesque island just off the coast of France. It is surrounded by a beautiful beach, is full of history and is visited by over three million tourists a year!

At the top of the town, there is a stunning abbey, (which unfortunately we didn't get to) and incredible views, as well as countless shops, museums and houses from the 15th and 16th centuries. There is so much to do, and so many things to see. We were told about old myths, tactics in battle and more, but the thing that interested me the most was that the shops had inspired Diagon Alley in the Harry Potter movies!

These are only some of the brilliant things which I got up to in Normandy and Brittany. Read here for part two! 

Read about the caravanning trip to France I took with my family in 2011

Read about my school trip last year - to PGL.

An Amazing Time In Northern France With School (Part One)

 The Chateau

Zipwire

A few weeks ago, I had the amazing experience of going on a trip to Normandy with my school to learn French. We visited lots of wonderful places in Northern France, and here are my highlights from the trip...

Accommodation
Our year stayed at Chateau Beaumont, a lovely chateau built between 1837 and 1852. It is surrounded by loads of grass and places to explore, and on some afternoons we took part in fun activities, such as tir à l'arc (archery), tyrolienne (zip wire) and escrime (fencing). All of the instructors were so much fun, made us use French as much as possible and were really encouraging - so much so that they somehow managed to get me to climb all the way to the top of an incredibly difficult climbing wall!

Our room was nice, and actually very spacious for a group of ten people. I was lucky enough to be placed with my best friends, and we had a fabulous time together.

Read more »