Well, what a drama it was getting out of Nice... The day started out well enough. We got up on time, had our last breakfast in France down in the dining room, then checked out of our last continental hotel. We just missed the airport bus as we got to the station, so we had to wait a little while for the next one. As it turns out, our wait for the bus was nothing compared to the wait at the airport. When we arrived, there was a big queue at the check-in desks and while we waited the line didn't [View Full Entry]

---

---

Our visit to Nice was quite relaxing and enjoyable. The weather was variable, but we managed to get some sun and some quality relaxing time. We'd booked a day tour of the Riviera for our first full day (Tuesday) in Nice as it seemed like a logical thing to do and would allow us to see all the places we planned to see anyway, while leaving us extra time to go back on our own in the following few days if we wanted. Our driver Sylvie picked us up a bit later than the scheduled time, which was a bit annoying [View Full Entry]

---

---

We left Aix not too early, after having breakfast, and checked out with no real incident. The walk to the train station was pretty short and thankfully it was all downhill, because our cases were just full of souvenirs and extra clothes that Sam bought in Paris. Sam was still feeling unwell, so we were glad that at least the sun was out. Because Aix is a little out of the way, we had to catch a train to Marseille-St Charles then connect to the TGV there. The station at Aix was tiny and to get to the platform we had [View Full Entry]

---

---

Well, we woke up bright and early, with the full intention of packing up, having breakfast and then taking the bus to Aix. Of course, by now we we're full up on souvenirs and other extra luggage, so we thought we'd see how much a cab might cost... The lady at reception, who thought we only knew English, rang up and asked, and was quoted (en Francais) 87 Euros. She then said she'd ring a guy she knew, who was a tour guide and former receptionist at Hotel Danieli, as he'd possibly take us for less than a cab and show [View Full Entry]

---

---

Bonjour... We arrived in Avignon safely after a quick trip down on the Teh Zeh Veh. When we got off the train, we almost got blown over by the wind. Ah yes, the famous Mistral was still going strong, but that didn't dampen our enthusiasm... for Avignon that is We took a taxi in to the Hotel Danieli because we simply couldn't be bothered lugging them onto a bus... As it turns out, the hotel didn't have a lift and we had to carry our luggage all they way up about 40 steps... Other than that the place wasn't so bad [View Full Entry]

---

---

The trip from Paris in the TGV was awesome. The Gare de Lyon station is magnificent in it's old world grandeur. The facilities are first rate and boarding facilites are so simple, god knows why anybody would fly anywhere that the TGV goes too... TGV stands for Train à Grande Vitésse and it surely is fast. We flew thru some of the prettiest countryside you will ever see and checked in to the Holiday Inn at Brotteaux by Lunch time. Brotteaux is in a quiet part of town, and was really quite pleasant. The Métro lines in Lyon are newer and [View Full Entry]

---

---

Well, the Eiffeil Tower at night is pretty spectacular. First off we stopped off at the Place de Chaillot to have a look at the Tower fro, afar and ad,ire the light show. There was a pretty big crowd of people there, all taking flash photos, as if that would make a difference!!! Once the light show stopped, we made our way down towards the Eiffel Tower, and along the way Sam managed to stumble over a step and hurt her foot... So we rested a while, then made our way up the east tower to the second floor of the [View Full Entry]

---

---

The flight from Heathrow was short, but somehow BMI managed to lose Sam's suitcase... We figured it was bad when we realised the sticker for it was stuck to fast to Ivan's suitcase. The guy at the service desk was very helpful and walked us thru a lost luggage report and assured us that we'd get a call about the luggage when they found it. The next day, Sam rang the call centre and was told that the luggage had been found and would be sent over and we'd have it either by the evening or the next morning (Thursday). It's [View Full Entry]

---

---

Hi We have just finished our tour of London town. First off, thanks to Lisa for her hospitality and to Ngaire for lending us her room... We have very sore feet as we landed in London in the evening on Saturday and walked everywhere else ever since... with the odd ride on the tube thrown in for good measure. The first night there we went to a pub full of aussies and stretched our legs a bit after the long flight. On Sunday we visited Camden Market and then went for a lovely summer afternoon stroll down to the Thames with [View Full Entry]

---

---

Our first visit to Mauritus Our flight from Melbourne left a bit later than scheduled, however they made the time up somewhere over the Indian Ocean. For the most part it was uneventful, but seemed to take forever. We landed on time in Plaisance and cleared customs in no time at all. Our first impression of the airport was that it was not unlike Fiji, but there was nobody hasslig us to buy this or that or to take their taxis, so it was quite pleasant... A guy called Manuèl met us with a sign and took us over to his [View Full Entry]

---

---