I've just returned from a week's holiday in the south of France. I had the pleasure of being a bridesmaid for one of my best friends. The happy couple got married in the stunning Château de la Bourlie, in Urval.

It was a lavish three-day event, where we had drinks on the Friday in a village called Beynac-et-Cazenac, followed by the wedding on Saturday, and then a pool party on the Sunday back in the chateau! Almost a hundred people flew to France for the big event and we all had such a wonderful (and emotional!) time. The chateau looked like something out of a film set with a long stony driveway, a large courtyard lit up with fairy lights, pointed turrets, and a small chapel with stained glass windows. Inside, it was a maze of stone walls with ornate decor and modern touches of polished marble.

We spent four nights in a hotel and then three nights at at B&B. Our hotel was called Domaine du Château de Monrecour and it was simply beautiful. The rooms were traditionally French style with wooden beams and shabby chic furnishings, while the pool area and restaurant were spacious and very luxurious. Our B&B, Le Clos des Pelissous, was back towards the airport of Bergerac and was run by a lovely French couple called Lydie and David. Again, it was like something out of a film set in a remote location with beautiful shabby chic decor in shades of pastel green, cream and grey.

We were blessed with lovely weather apart from rain on the last day—France is very green so rain must happen fairly frequently. Luckily, we had a hire car for the whole week, and we would have been lost without it. Although the area was picturesque, it was incredibly difficult to find local taxis and most places to eat were a 20 min drive away. We hired a car through Europcar but I wouldn't recommend as it was considerably more expensive than what our friends had paid with other companies! The car itself was not what we had requested and was fairly dirty with damage, too.

To end on a high, please look through my collection of beautiful photos...