I know: still a whole month to go until the real celebration gets started.

But it is actually time to start writing your cards, you know.

I received my first one this morning, from my friends at the Union Bank of Switzerland:

Cute, isn’t it?

I was rummaging through a box of old things this week and came up with a couple of items I’m sure my kids will die laughing about: my yearbooks from the fifties featuring a couple of great pics of yours truely:

Moi in 1952

The same in 1954

And the amazing thing is: by the time the nineties arrived, I hadn’t changed a bit:

Oh, the ’90′s!

I guess: once a hunk, always a hunk, eh?

Oh, and you can grab your own over at YearbookYourself…

Makes sense!

Priceless!

There are many reasons why we spend literally AGES planning our holidays.

They have to be absolutely perfect, of course, which, when traveling with two adolescent daughters whose wishes are diametrically opposed to ours, is a feat in itself.

We make use of the obvious web sites: TripAdvisor, HolidayCheck.de (very important to get the opinions of both the Brits – “The bar was fantastic, but the bloody Germans couldn’t stop getting up at 06:00 every morning to nab the sun beds” – and the Germans – “The pool was fantastic, apart from the very loud and drunken Brits“).

And then, you discover other tools…

Take this place: the charming little Hotel Alicja in Lodz, Poland.

European standards in a friendly athmosphere, they state. And their website is teaming with pictures which will ultimately make you totally forget about St Barth’s.

Tempting, I hear you say..