I recently went to a day long ‘vide-greniers’ in Montertelot in Brittany. The whole village was buzzing with flea market stalls in every street from the entrance to the village to the canal. A huge variety of household goods, clothes and collectibles were for sale with food stops a plenty. But this is a pretty village to visit at any time of the year. It sits on the banks of the Nantes – Brest canal, with its weir and lovely waterside walks. A good place to stop if you are in Brittany.

Or so the song goes and it is a lovely city to visit. I am just back from visiting the Christmas markets and drinking ‘Glogg’ (mulled wine). There are several markets scattered around the city from the ones at Nyhaven and Tivoli gardens to the german markets and the HC Christian Andersen market. Be warned that prices can be high when shopping and eating out, but we still had lovely meals and got some more decorations for my already very decorated house! For nice coffee and cake, I would recommend ‘Frenchy’ off of Stroget . This, the main pedestrianised shopping street is a great place to spend a few hours. The pretty houses and boats at Christianshaven and Nyhaven are a must see. There is an interesting shop with Icelandic products at the waterfront near the famous Noma restaurant. And no, we didn’t go to lunch there!

Travel in from the airport is cheap and easy with ticket machines in english in the arrivals hall. On Sunday we went on a 40 minute train trip from the main station to Malmo, for lunch and sightseeing. Well worth a visit for the experience of travelling on the Oresund link if nothing else.