Magic Carpet Travels: 2025

We just returned from a last minute booking to Jamaica. Usually our holidays involve a lot of out and about stuff but this one was total relaxation,

This was partly because I had a damaged tendon in my leg so could not walk far or climb, which ruled out the popular tourist trips to see the Dunns River waterfall and/or Bob Marley's house. Nonetheless, doing nothing but gentle beach walks to explore the local fishermens catch, has certainly made a huge difference to recovery and I am now pain free and ready for strengthening physio.

The Jamaican flag cocktail, aka the Bob Marley), full of fruit and rum!

Indian themed restaurant offered paneer korma, samosas and onion bhaji

Although this was the hurricane season and rain was likely, we had 9 scorching hot days of around 29 -31f with clear skies and only 2 days where it rained and thundered in the afternoons and we went to the room and slept while it passed.

The hotel, Royalton Hideaway at Trelawyn, nearest airport Montego Bay is in the middle of nowhere - trips into town alone were discouraged and as there was no local transport service, we opted to keep our exploration to walks along the very long, white sandy beach, meeting locals along the way.

Above: lazy river

Our hotel had a high level of loud music (reggae), pool parties, very tipsy guests and a lot of activities such as the pool foam party (which we joined), beach volleyball, drinking games (pass the parcel in the pool), and dancing. It was a great atmosphere but we chose to spend every day on the beach, away from 50% of the noise and were mostly floating in the sea or reading books on our sunbeds.

The sea has very little tide, going in and out about 3 feet, with a bit of seaweed (which the hotel employ staff to clear twice a day). The sand is soft and white, the water is shallow and warm. I took a floating device but didn't really need it as the sea was so floaty.

I used my new snorkel for the first time and saw yellow and black stripey fish and some brown ones.

Walking along the beach we found some empty properties and some that were being rennovated for next year's tourism (Jamaican people), the majority of tourists from American and Canada go for the big hotels like ours which had a sister hotel we could use and a total of 4 big swimming pools, a lazy river and flumes. Something for everyone.

We met a fisherman who was descaling fish and proudly showed me a lobster caught fresh that morning. We don't eat seafood but were interested to see the catch. He explained there is a coral reef further out which is why we didn't see many fish or seashells. Men dive deep to bring in conch shells for the tourist trade, which we preferred to steer clear of - these things are homes to creatures that are on the decline.

There were a couple of shacks that sold jerk chicken just off the beach and a small 'village' of (hotel approved) vendors selling the usual fridge magnets and Bob Marley tee shirts.

This was a fabulous location for total rest and relaxation, food was good, rooms were comfortable. Not enough going on outside for us but a great experience and 40% off the usual package deal price so we were happy.

Probably my shortest travel post to date! I read three books, slept a lot and felt totally chilled and refreshed on return. Our sons shared cat sitting, one lived in for the duration and commuted to work in London, the other popped round at end of shifts to let Mollie in/out and my best buddy stepped in, popping round to check on Mollie the odd afternoon if it rained. Very lucky to have worry free cover :)

Sorry if you have a stiff neck, no idea why these pics are on their side!

I booked this trip with a Eurostar deal, costing £540 for two with rail travel and 3 nights B&B way back in March for July travel - as we were there a few days before Bastille Day, I think we were very lucky to get a booking!

We live close to Gatwick airport, so from there took a 40 minute train journey into London to Kings Cross St Pancras to pick up the Eurostar to Paris. The train was comfortable, with onboard cafe, air conditioned and had big windows - the window seat was wasted though as I slept half the journey - it only takes about 2 1/2 hours.

On arrival at Garde du Norde Eurostar, we took the Metro to our hotel. The quickest line (line 9) was out of service on that section for maintenance but we found its a good network with alternatives and made it to Grand Boulevard and to our hotel in about 30 mins. We could have taken a bus (or taxi) but I think the metro is best. We bought Navigo passes which can easily be topped up at machines and enable travel on the RER, Metro, trams and buses.

We stayed at Best western (Blvd Montmartre), a 3 star in The opera district, not opera or theatre buffs but chosen as within walking distance of river, metro and bus routes. The hotel is hidden away in one of the many covered passages of quirky shops and cafes, which date back to the late 18th century and were intended for people to shop without getting wet or.muddy. some of them, like ours, had underfloor heated tiled floors... so underfloor heating is not a new thing! Ours was next door to the Grevin Wax Works, the oldest of it's kind in Europe... more info on these passages HERE*

Grand Boulevard Metro

From our base we were a 30 minute walk to The Louvre so started out next morning on foot - it is a great way to find bars, eateries and bureau de change to mentally note for later - even a Carrefour supermarket! Avoids a lot of dithering later about where you will spend your evenings too as you will spot cafes and restaurants to go to later.

Extended happy hour (5-11pm)!

more evenings with happy hours!

above: Riha Turkish kebab cafe selling bread made while you wait, wrapped with freshly cooked kebab meat or (for me) feta cheese and salad.

We bought hop on hop off tickets for the Batobus tourist boat which takes you by river to every attraction and is such a nice way to see things. There are ticket kiosks on the riverside where the boat stops but you can also buy online. The boats are glass topped, in the current European heatwave they were very hot and sides were opened. I can imagine that the rest of the year they are a great way to stay dry and warm whilst gettiing good views. This is the cheapest way to get around without effort in my view, 23 Euro each for a 24 hour pass. We visited all the attractions on day 1 apart from the Eiffel Tower which we felt needed a day of its own.

Outside The Louvre

Above is the route the boat takes.

We didn't go inside any of the attractions as were happy to view from outside and move on. We did spend time though at the end of day 1 at the Jardin du Plantes as it was cool in the gardens and, being a gardener, I enjoyed seeing the herbs and flowers. Most of the plants have a QR code sign nearby so you can scan to get info about the plant in your language if you can't read the French descriptions. I particularly found of interest the details on medicinal/culinary uses of plants.

Day 2: we again walked to The Louvre and took the boat trip again (when we boarded we had one minute left on our boat pass!) we hopped off at Eiffel Tower. There was a queue for tickets (and to go to the top, you need to book online well ahead), but we were happy to use the beautiful gardens (which are free) to get our pics and see it close up, we also got good pics from the boat.

We spent the afternoon walking from the Eiffel Tower back towards the Louvre, keeping to the river. Along the river we saw people sunbathing and also enjoyed seeing the houseboats. We tried to keep in the shade and carried 2 litre bottles of water (Carrefour supermarket 0.63c cheapest!) which we refilled free inside the park near Madeleine area, where some friendly security guards allowed us to access a fenced off water fountain -- fenced off in preparation for the Bastille Celebrations due to start 14th July - hundreds of chairs were set up lining the streets in this area.

Carrefour supermarket

Grevin waxworks

Lunches were easy: so many little cake and baguette shops around- this cafe offered a meal deal for 11 Euro of huge baguette (roquefort cheese, salad), dainty raspberry tart and cold drink.

Both evenings were spent in the hotel area (Opera) where there were plenty of bars (with happy hours that went on into the night 5-11pm so we enjoyed light lager or house wine). There is a huge selection of restaurants. We chose an Israeli cafe for falafel salad day 1 and the following night, a Kurdish cafe for beef kebabs and veggie feta salad wraps for me. There is also a KFC and a McDonalds. There are of course numerous places for fine dining, but that isn't what we wanted.

Pics above of view and also beautiful interior of la Fayette department store.

I had done my research and knew La Fayette department store was on the same road as our hotel, if you take the escalators up to the 6th floor, then walk the stairs to the roof, there is a great view of the whole of Paris from there, it has a glass safety rail all the way round and you can take pictures from there.

Below are pics of the general area we stayed in..