#ETLRoadTrip: Monaco to France

I have written about my love of Monaco many times before this. Which is one of the main reasons why we come back so much - that and my husband-to-be'a family have a holiday home in the neighbouring town of Beausoleli. 

We arrived here around 4pm and dropped off our luggage at the apartment. We decided to have a quiet night in after a few hectic days and so we headed to the local bakery and Carrefour to pick up some baguettes, meats, water and cheese. 

Refreshed and ready to go, the next morning we had breakfast on our balcony and before walking 30 minutes through Casino Square and towards the harbour to visit the beautiful palace. 

We also stopped by the St Michael Church and the Oceanographic building whilst strolling around the palace and harbour. 

In the evening we went to a great burger restaurant called Son of a Bun. For €15 euros you can get their XXL burger - which is huge! We also decided that seeing as it was happy hour, we'd go for the 1Litre home made beers. 

Slightly worse for wear, the following day we decided to go to the beach and relax. It was still pretty warm outside and we even went for a little swim in the sea. 

Later that afternoon we headed to the local market to pick up some things for dinner - as we had a pretty early (8:30am) start into France, we needed an early night. 

So, after 3 relaxing days in Monaco, it's time to pick up the driving again and move on to France. 

#ETLRoadTrip: Italy to Monaco

After a 3 days driving, today we are leaving the wonderful Best Western hotel in Cuneo, to start our journey along the coast to Monaco to stop off for a few days, relax and enjoy some winter sunshine.

Cuneo was definitely a place that I would visit again. Their little town and square reminded me of the one we visited in Mexico City last summer. 

Whilst wandering around here, we discovered a great meat restaurant called I Bove'sani. Chowing down on burgers and grappa, we ended our (drunken) night here. 

After breakfast, we had a little time to play with and so we decided to visit the local food, craft and flower market (blog post to come soon). I really enjoy watching the manerisims of Italian people and how they interact with the each other - it's very theatrical. 

Once we had prepared the cars and fuelled up for the day, we drove our cars across Italy and into the French border. 

Climbing up and down the mountain hills was pretty amazing. 

After 2 1/2 hours driving, we decided to stop off in Menton (next to Monaco) for lunch and a beer. 

Finally we arrived in Monaco at 4:00pm. 

5 Reasons I love Five Guys

I first experienced the rather epic Five Guys when I was travelling around America last summer. In the chilly New York weather, we decided to made a lunch time pit stop into one of their many US branches. We were intrigued by their brash red and white branding - there was also posters hung in the windows shouting about how amazing their food was.

Heading up to the counter, we ordered our burgers. Opting for a double beef patty with cheese and bacon (that's another great thing about Five Guys, you choose your burger). Then we decided to have a portion of fries each (not knowing how big the portion is) - if there is two of you one portion of fried will be more than enough.

So, if you haven't yet grasped my love of Five Guys. Here's 5 reasons for you to go!

1. Free Nuts

So weird for a burger place to offer free nuts - but hey! That's Five Guys for you and they are pretty tasty.

#ETLRoadTrip: Switzerland to Italy

After a long day of driving (over 10 hours) we rested up on the beautiful Lake Geneva and stayed at a wonderful hotel called La Rivage. 

Our room had a lake view and it certainly didn't disappoint when we woke up in the morning. 

After breakfast, we began to pack up the cars and leave behind the stunning Lake Geneva. Today we were travelling through some of the mountain roads of the Swiss Alpes and over to Italy to stay in a little town called Cuneo.

But before we began our journey for the day, we decided to take a stroll around the beautiful lake and take in the sights. 

At 9:30am, we refuelled the cars and began our adventures into the mountains.

Driving down the beautiful open roads, we could see nothing but blue skies, green fields and snow topped mountains. We even drove by a natural waterfall within the rocks - which was pretty epic.

Continuing in through beautiful towns and skiing villages of Switzerland, we also made our way up into the mountains and into the Mont Blanc tunnel which was pretty amazing (this cost €42 to cross over).

Coming out the other side and driving into Italy, we decided to make a stop off for lunch at a local service station. 

Ironically, they had a selection of pizza slices available from €3-€6 Euro. We opted for the hot dog pizza for €5. Sounds horrible, but was actually pretty good. 

From here we wanted to follow the petite St. Bernard's pass. But due to the heavy fog levels, we decided to take the auto route into Cuneo. 

Arriving at the hotel, Best Western, we were amazed at what we found in our rooms. Beautiful chandeliers and giant bathrooms - this was one of the best hotels I had ever stayed in. 

Next stop, Italy to Monaco.

#ETLRoadTrip: UK to Switzerland

Saturday: Leaving England 

Waking up like a kid on Christmas morning, I jumped out of bed and into the shower, ready to start our family road trip through out Europe. As most of you have read about our route - you will know that the first day is all about taking the over night ferry from Hull to Brusells - which I was slightly dreading as I get a bit see sick.

Getting the cars and luggage ready, we left our little home and made our way to the ferry port in Hull. 

Travelling overnight with P&O ferries was not actually as bad as I anticipated. I actually purchased some travel sickness bands from Amazon and I have to say I'm pretty impressed. These may not work for everyone, but they definitely helped me. 

After arriving in the port of Zee Brugge at 9:30am, we began to make our road trip through Belgium and crossing into France. 

Whilst going through this route we also hit 2 toll road fees which were €15 and €31 - which is something to consider when taking this route. 

Finally approaching the Swiss-Alpes, the drive in total took around 8-9 hours. We also stopped off for a refuel and lunch for an hour which included within this journey time. 

Next stop...Lake Geneva and Italy!