Holiday dresses and our first 24 hours in France

BONJOUR! We’re in France. I haven’t just taken to shouting “Bonjour” for the sake of it (although, in the middle of a toddler tantrum, stranger things have happened). Anyway, I’m sharing the last in my series of holiday outfit posts here along with some photos from our first day in France because, well, you might also be off on your travels and looking for some new outfit inspiration. Or you might just be nosey. Whatever, I am here to serve.

So, we arrived in France at 3pm on Friday, fresh off the Plymouth to Roscoff ferry. I’m a long time fan of ferry travel with kids because a) you don’t need to worry about luggage allowance (we’ve brought everything but the kitchen sink with us – even our bikes), b) you don’t need to worry about your kids kicking off in a confined space (there was even a soft-play and cinema on board the Brittany Ferries ship we sailed here on) and c) you get to eat properly nice food that doesn’t taste like plane food. Oh and it’s CHEAP! Well, cheap compared to flying, anyway.

OK, now onto the outfits. This post is all about another brand I’d never even heard of until recently, but was really surprised by how many lovely clothes they have on their website. JD Williams has a whole range of recognisable names on the website. I’d discounted it as an option for me because I don’t consider myself “plus size” at a 12, but most of the designs start in a 12, which is the size of these dresses I’m wearing here.

I’ve lost around 20lbs since this time last year (no diets involved – watch what I did here) and wondered if my slight change in body shape would alter how comfortable I felt in my clothes this summer. The honest truth? Not really. I mean, I feel far more accepting of my body than I have in a long time, but I wouldn’t say the weight loss has transformed how happy I am generally with my shape when I’m actually wearing clothes! That said, these dresses are both REALLY comfy, super flattering and OH SO EASY to wear in the heat.

I chose the fit and flare Broderie dress by Lovedrobe (currently reduced from £65 to £50 – hurry!) and the denim double layer maxi dress which is a style I’d never have opted for before. Both are a lovely cut and a great style for the warmer weather. I wore the Broderie dress for a day in the city and then travelling down the French countryside and it proved to be really versatile. Comfortable but also smart. I wore it with sandals but I reckon it would go equally well with heels for a wedding or even as a summer office dress.

We headed straight from Roscoff south, about three hours’ drive to the beautiful city of Nantes. I’d booked an apartment in a hotel style complex on the outskirts of the city because I knew we wouldn’t arrive until fairly late and the first night was mainly about regrouping and getting some rest before the next leg of the journey.

With a few hours to kill the following morning and the weather not playing ball we went into the centre of Nantes to the amazing robot museum I’d read reviews of online. Les Machine de L’ile is a great way to spend a couple of hours and the girls were both transfixed with the creations – especially the giant walking robotic elephant.

I’ll write more about this in a separate post, as well as the place where we stayed but, for now, if you’re interested in the holiday outfits side of the post then I did a bit of a haul video a little while ago that you might like to watch (along with the behind-the-scenes of the photos – please tell me I’m not the only one with a partner who LOATHES being the designated outfits photographer?!).

You can watch it here:

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Thanks to JD Williams for working with me on this post. For more information about how I work with brands check out my Work With Me page.