Skip to content

I Am A Polar Bear

Travel, adventure & wellness with plenty of snow

  • Home
  • About Me
  • Travel
    • By country
      • Nordic & Scandinavian
        • Denmark
        • Finland
        • Iceland
        • Norway
          • Svalbard
        • Sweden
      • Western Europe
        • Belgium
        • France
        • Ireland
        • Italy
        • Netherlands
        • UK
          • Scotland
          • Wales
      • Central Europe
        • Austria
        • Czechia
        • Germany
        • Hungary
        • Poland
        • Switzerland
      • Eastern Europe
        • Estonia
        • Georgia
        • Latvia
        • Lithuania
        • Romania
        • Russia
        • Ukraine
      • Mediterranean
        • Croatia
        • Cyprus
        • Malta
        • Spain
    • By type
      • Daycations
      • Weekends away
        • Cheese & Chocolate (2026)
        • Parc Asterix (2025)
        • Christmas in London (2025)
      • Road Trips
        • A Birthday On the Ring Road (2025)
        • Accidental Ring Road (2023)
        • The Quest for a Volcano (2022)
      • Train Adventures
        • West Bohemian Spa Triangle (2026)
        • The Original Spa (2025)
        • Great German Spa Towns (2025)
      • Short Breaks
        • The Girls Trip Made It Out of the Group Chat (2026)
        • Winter in Helsinki (2026)
        • The Romanian Do-Over (2025)
      • Longer Trips
        • Traversing Cyprus & Georgia (2024)
        • The Russian Odyssey (2019)
        • The Laugavegur Diaries (2018)
      • Year Abroad
      • School Trips
    • Unique Places to Stay
    • Travel Library
  • Adventures
    • Water
    • Snow
    • Land
    • Height
    • Indoors
      • Girlguiding
  • Wellness
  • YouTube

Tag: Julie in Paris (2023)

There are 6 million dead bodies under Paris | iamapolarbear.com

There are 6 million dead bodies under Paris

May 18, 2023

One thing I’ve meant to do in Paris for years is the Catacombs. I knew very little about them; only that they were underground and went on forever. When I went to Paris last month, I added them to my tentative to-do list, having discovered that tickets only go on sale four days in advance and … More There are 6 million dead bodies under Paris

1 Comment There are 6 million dead bodies under Paris
A night at the Paris Opera | iamapolarbear.com

A night at the Paris Opera

May 15, 2023

Ok, I’m ridiculous. I decided to use the Coronation weekend to go to Paris. I’ve said on many occasions that I don’t love Paris but I like it more as I get to explore on my own terms and it’s a very quick hop over from Southampton Airport and quite honestly, I was never going … More A night at the Paris Opera

1 Comment A night at the Paris Opera

Who am I?
I'm Julie, a travel, adventure and wellness blogger. I love Iceland, I love jumping into hot water and I do love a bit of snow.

  • Instagram
  • YouTube
  • Bluesky

Most popular posts

  • Zedwell Capsule Hotel review: what's it like to sleep in a coffin?
  • Tent review: Eurohike Sendero 4 vs Cairns 5 DLX
  • Which lagoon should I visit in Iceland?
  • Which is the best geothermal lagoon to visit in Iceland while the Blue Lagoon is closed?
  • How to visit and explore Brijuni National Park from Pula
The reason I was in Scarborough was for the Trefoil Guild annual meeting. The Trefoil Guild is Guiding for adults and in some ways it’s better than Girlguiding: no responsibility for children, because it’s adults only, and open to everyone, regardless of gender or Guiding experience. In practice, it’s almost entirely female, heavily leans towards retired leaders and is having a membership crisis because the average age is somewhere in the 60s or 70s and new members aren’t joining at quite the pace that older members are leaving. Having been a member for ten years now, I don’t stand out among them quite as much as I did when I was a mere child of 30. I really liked Scarborough! It’s got a spectacular beach with cliffs at all ends, it’s got the oldest cliff lift in the country, I had an ice cream, I walked in the shallows until I had my feet scratched to bits by sand and salt under my sandal straps and the water was an incredible colour. Not pictured: a cheese toastie from a beach kiosk, four sticks of traditional Scarborough rock and 27km walked mostly back & forth across the beach in under 48 hours. I’ve done a few train adventures in my time but this was one I was… dubious about. Southampton to Scarborough by CrossCountry (well, Southampton to York, then a quick hop by TransPennine Express to Scarborough), so basically the entire length of England. So much potential for it to all go wrong, to the point that I’d taken to saying I was “hopefully” going to Scarborough this weekend. The UK rail network doesn’t have much of a reputation for reliability and CrossCountry tends to send shorter trains than the route requires, so half the passengers end up standing, packed in shoulder to shoulder. After a slightly intimidating UK train adventure this weekend, I’m off to Iceland for some geothermal and volcanic adventures next week, so I thought I’d go back to this volcano where I inadvertently became part of a Channel 4 documentary three years ago (see link in bio and skip to 32:27!) I often casually mention the boathouse and boat club, so let’s talk about it! I have a niece. She's three months old and I have very little interest in or enthusiasm for the baby stage - there was no, "Oh, I've suddenly realised I need one of these!" moments when I first met her, just a "yeah, I was right, I'm not a baby person". I just don't get the appeal of babies. Maybe there's a gene I'm lacking. This week has been #volunteersweek Week and as a long-term Girlguiding volunteer (adult leader for nearly 19 years but I started as Brownie helper when I was 13), I’m seeing a lot of “Thank you for volunteering!” and “we love our volunteers!” posts from every level and I have mixed feelings about it. I’m supposed to be promoting my book, A Polar Night’s Tale, this week but that moment of bravery has passed - I can see that I’ve sold one copy but I’m pretty sure Lulu is hiding another two or three from me. Thank you everyone who’s been positive about it! MY BOOK IS OUT!!!

About Julie

I'm a blogger, adventurer, lover of hot water, amateur paddler and polar bear who wilts in hot weather. Time (by day, I'm a researcher) and funds keep me within Europe and I make regular trips up to the north, especially to Iceland. I like the occasional adventure across Europe by train and I'm starting to make use of my weekends for 48-hour adventures. This isn't my only creative outlet - I've written two travelogues (one on a winter adventure across the Arctic Circle and one on exploring volcanoes during a warm summer road trip around Iceland) plus a little book of Icelandic pools and I have a fourth book in progress right now.

Blog at WordPress.com.
  • Subscribe Subscribed
    • I Am A Polar Bear
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • I Am A Polar Bear
    • Subscribe Subscribed
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar

Loading Comments...