A Tale of Two Cities.
Feast yourself over Fiona’s photography as she tells you how she found their first trips overseas as a family. She’s had a busy time of late visiting Paris, where she also payed a visit to the trade show Playtime, as well as spending a week in Copenhagen with family.
I am a natural born planner, and as soon as I was pregnant, I was dreaming of far flung exotic holidays with my tribe. Then Stanley was born – our world was turned upside down with a baby who had a dislike for sleep and ever being detached from me, so my well laid travel plans were on hold. Fast forward two years and we came out the other side and our baby has flourished into an inquisitive and comical two year old.
We finally felt ready to fly and asked Bobby’s brother and wife to come with us to Copenhagen for what we thought would be our first family holiday abroad.
– our baby has flourished into an inquisitive and comical two year old.
Two weeks before we were due to fly to CPH, we had the most spontaneous moment since becoming parents – we booked a flight to Paris so we could explore the much talked about trade show Playtime (where we hope to exhibit in the future). We felt exhilarated, if a bit terrified.
It was always going to be a bit of a frenetic trip, as we would only be in Paris for two days. With this in mind, we decided to max out every minute and squeeze out every ounce of the Parisian culture. Playtime was as we expected – a plethora of brands, brand new start ups to established players and everything in-between. Contemporary and traditional all under one well organised roof. It was a whistle stop tour of both Playtime and Paris but we were lucky enough to see exhibitors and friends including Gardner and the Gang, Amy and Ivor, Papu and A Mini Penny. Their upcoming collections look superb.
The following day we stayed above ground and took in the most central and iconic Paris landmarks from the Louvre, The Pompidou Centre, The Seine to the Eiffel tower. Stanley and Bobby both enjoyed a nap in the park and I watched my boys sleep and the people go by.
Whilst in Paris we stayed in the beautiful home of Marie-Soudre-Richard, founder of Little Fashion Gallery, which we found on Kid and Coe – my ‘go to’ for family friendly holiday rentals.
The flight home was pleasantly uneventful and Stanley slept the entire two hour journey home from the airport in the car.
We were home a mere four days and we were off again but this time for leisure and with our family for companionship and support.
We stayed in Frederiksgade, which was a quick ride from the airport and is a quiet and central location. We instantly felt at home and we soon established a pattern of enjoying breakfast at our local Original Coffee and planning our exploits for the day.
Being the parents of a fidgety two year old we were quickly acquainted with the local parks. We all commented on how well used the parks were by the locals of all ages in comparison to where we live. We were also impressed with the clever use of play equipment, the designers had avoided the obvious park clichés and, instead, chosen carved animals to encourage imaginative play.
As well as seeing the sights by foot, we also enjoyed the view from the river. A neglected past time I one enjoyed is people watching. I love how locals sat by the river reading, talking to friends or just watching the world go by. Norwich, the city we live in, has a river but doesn’t embrace it as much from a social perspective that both Paris or CPH does. I’m debating beginning a personal project to create some more river way spaces for the public to use in our fine city.
Being a lover of minimalism and graphic design, the city oozed it, from the geometry of the buildings to the parquet of the flooring and to rhythmic beat of the in store music. CPH stole my heart.
– the designers had avoided the obvious park clichés and, instead, chosen carved animals to encourage imaginative play.
For me, a holiday-holiday, was one where you kicked back, read magazines, topped up your tan by day and enjoyed mojitos by night. I never imagined I could return home from an action packed city break, well two in fact(!), and feel recharged and refreshed, but I did and still do.
Next up, we’re planning a road trip!