Back at The Cottage in the North Wales summer sunshine wondering if I really had been in Paris yesterday, or if it had just been a dream!

I left Fort Martin after a tour of the grounds, with a big bag full of produce from the gardens. I tried to leave early but the holiday traffic still added an hour to the travel time home.

Once back home, the home grown produce was quickly devoured!

It’s still super hot here in Wales, so we’ve spent some time keeping cool in the rivers and sea and avoided any of the tourist hotspots. After a day in the car it was good to be back on the bikes to get to a snorkel session in the river.

On Sunday morning, we were up and out early as the conditions were looking good for a snorkel at the beach. We got a the last parking spot and enjoyed another breakfast by the waters edge before getting in. This time we had wetsuits, so lasted much longer and didn’t get cold. Clare saw a huge crab and we both saw a Dogfish (the look like mini sharks) that was nearly a metre long!

We’d gone well prepared and could have post swim brews. Our friend Irene joined us for a dip as well and we sat and chatted until after midday. After also bumping into some other friends, we only left around 2pm as we were getting hungry and were out of food!

By then it was not longer the tranquil calm of morning – the sea had got choppy and with many more swimmers!

We almost got a pizza at a pop-up beach cafe, but there was a 45 minute wait time – an hour later, we were back home enjoying our own cooked pizza – but this time with a fresh salad and even a cheeky glass of late afternoon wine! Bliss!