This week My Holidaystalks to Paula Mee, Nutritionist
Your earliest holiday memory?
Piling into the family estate and spending what felt like a lifetime travelling from Ballina to Tall Trees, Askeaton, Co Limerick for Christmas holidays. This was my mother's family home, which felt like a palatial hotel when I was small, accommodating not only our family but all my first cousins. I was fascinated that Santa could find us all tucked up in various rooms in that beautiful old house. Summer holidays there were idyllic and involved endless adventures in the orchard, the rockery and many cycling trips.
Your worst holiday?
Trapped in an airport in Malta on the way home from a diving holiday for 17 hours, as the baggage handlers went on strike. My son was a baby and we were down to our last penny when the airport shop ran out of water. It was rock bottom when we met a couple of guys who were not just an oasis in the searing heat but kept us humorously entertained for many hours.
Your best holiday?
Touring California with my son Cian when he was six. His highlights were SeaWorld and Legoland in San Diego, and the two-day hair-raising adventure of Disneyland. For me the highlight was Hearst Castle, the magnificent 165-room estate on 250,000 breathtaking acres near the remote seaside hamlet of San Simeon, halfway between Los Angeles and San Francisco. What an astounding collection of art and antiquities.
If budget or work was no restriction what would be your dream holiday?
A three-week holiday involving a good old physical challenge like climbing the Inca trail to Machu Pichu in week one, observing iguanas, giant tortoises and blue-footed boobies plunge-diving against a backdrop of smouldering volcanos in the Galapagos Islands in week two, and the last week would be a complete wind-down on a beautiful white beach in the Maldives.
Who would you bring on holiday?
I'd bring a mad, eclectic mix of the bizarre and the ridiculous - Ruby Wax and Bette Midler to keep me laughing, Sean Connery so I could listen to him, Denzil Washington so I could look at him and Tiger Woods so that I could play with him - golf, I mean.
Favourite place in Ireland?
I love the Burren. It has enormous mystique, is wonderfully beautiful, rich in nature and a great place to explore at any time of the year. The little villages of Kinvara and Ballyvaughan are great places to rest, and the chowder in Linane's in New Quay goes very well with a chilled glass of Sauvignon blanc after a brisk, breezy walk on the Flaggy Shore.
What book would you recommend for holiday?
Perhaps a volume of War and Peaceto knock you out and ensure you sleep to your hearts content.
Where will you spend your next holiday?
I'm off to Provence for some R&R. I hope to take in the sites in Avignon, the cafes in Aix, drive around the hills, sample the local delicacies, savour the fruit of the vine and just chill by the pool with War and Peace.