OXFORD: A LITTLE WALK AROUND TURL STREET

Easily one of the most scenic & goodness-filled streets in Oxford. And an excellent shortcut from High St to Broad St. I spend very large quantities of my free time happily existing somewhere along Turl Street. My top picks:

COFFEE: The Missing Bean for a mean flat white (or long black). They have almond milk (!), the staff are amazing souls, and the vibe is excellent.

EAT/DRINK: Turl Street Kitchen cosy up in front of their fires with a mug of peppermint tea (or WINE), the menu changes daily and it has a cosy, humming feel.

YOGA: just up the stairs from the main bar of Turl Street Kitchen, you'll find Yoga Quota, our home-away-from-home in Oxford. A kick-ass little studio that is also a charity: for every 50 students through the studio, a charity class is taught for an underprivileged group.

SHOP: Very beautiful, dangerous, lovely shops within 100 metres include Objects of Use, Oxfam Bookshop, and the Covered Markets.

PARIS GUIDE PART 2: SEE + DO

It's a cliche, but I'm pretty sure you could spend a decade in Paris and never run out of things to do or see.

So here's our highlight reel. An emphasis on art and old buildings and gardens, because they're our jam. Also sneaky hints and tips so that you can avoid the worst of the queues and largely just chill the fuck out a bit. There are things we missed like Versailles (thanks, striking workers - but seriously, good on you!) and the Sewer Museum (we confused the opening times) and things we'd like to do next time (like explore the Bois de Boulogne and Giverny).

We approached our time in Paris like we were living there for a month, rather than visiting. This attitude takes SO much pressure off the urge to push to see everything. Paris ain't going anywhere, folks. It's also an attitude that we really, gratefully achieved: establishing a favourite cafe, Adam buying a baguette everyday, finding a local health food store. Being able to walk to the Seine without a map (!).

PARIS GUIDE PART 1: COFFEE, EATS + TREATS

When your Paris notes become a four page, 2000+ word saga, you realise you need to split it across two posts. And we're starting with coffee, eats + treats. Because, PRIORITIES, ok?

We ate very very well in Paris. Nourishing ourselves with home-cooked goodness for most meals (exhibit A, exhibit B) and doing plenty (read: a shit tonne) of walking, leaves plenty of room in our bellies and our budgets.

A word here, on our preferences, and how they shape the list you see below. We ate out twice the entire time we were in Paris. Once for breakfast at Season (see below) to celebrate six years of being rad human beings together, and the second at the cafe in the Musee d'Orsay when I needed a glass of wine, and Adam needed a bowl of ice-cream. This might shock/confuse/amaze some people, but MEH, we know what we like. What we like is good coffee (often more than once a day), meals we make ourselves, and tasty treats that are high-quality and memorable. So in the list below you'll find plenty of coffee spots, treats and sweet spots, but not a lot of restaurants or 'dining' spots, because it's not how we roll. In Part 2 of the guide (coming very soon) I give some of the websites that were most useful to us during out stay, and I can assure that they have many, MANY delicious dining recommendations.

Part 2 covers things to see + do in Paris, if you can tear your eyes away from a delicious eclair long enough to gaze at some art. For now, onto the caffeine and sugar! X

EDINBURGH GUIDE

We were in Edinburgh for a month, and we really enjoyed our time here. The weather was stunning: sunny, blue skies and clear. We barely had a handful of rainy days the whole time. Edinburgh was an important transitionary period for us: both Adam and I were finishing up contract work based back in Australia, so we did bits and pieces here and there, but mostly it felt good to slow the pace down, do lots of yoga, drink lots of coffee, and walk all over town.