From Chamonix we drove back to Paris to drop the car back at the rental spot. The trek back through Paris was significantly more difficult and stressful than the drive out of the city...to say the least.  We took the train from Paris to Milan, a trip originally planned in an overnight car, but ended up being an evening trip leaving us with no overnight plans in Milano. We had to try a few different hotels before finding one with vacancy for the night, but eventually ran into some luck and crashed in a beautiful 4 star hotel. We hopped a train to Cinque Terre the next morning, arriving in Riomaggoire mid afternoon. It took some labored exploration to find our apartment rental, but we eventually found it tucked back in a pedestrian street...very old Italian ... read more

Hello again!!! All this WiFi availability will leave you all tired of the updates I'm sure!!! Just a quick note for today, more to come on the rest of southern France!! (I know some of you are die hard subscribers, but all good things in time!!) We are currently in the french alpes...Mont Blanc to be exact. The drive here was phenomenal!! The mountains are gorgeous, and even as far as 150km away from our destination, colourful parachutes could be seen scattered across the sky line. For the most part, the crabby city slickers are gone, and with them the ill mannered children, loud music, honking horns and funky smells!! Everyone here is so down to earth and full of life!! It makes one want to...jump off a mountain?! Wait, that doesn't seem right!! Haha! However, ... read more

So the immediate end results for our cross France trek left much to be desired. Let's just say the nights accommodations were unexpectedly short and not so sweet. Arles was revoked from our must see list. Our early morning tour of Orange restored our confidence in just how quaint and beautiful a European town can be. We saw and explored an ancient Roman colosseum/theatre which was overlooked by the emperors statue. FYI, the statues built for emperors were constructed with interchangeable heads to accommodate the constant changes in government. Some wonderful shopping, which was randomly interrupted by a man (part of some group wearing matching shirts and hats) who seemed to have forgotten his pants. Apparently "commando" is legit here. On to Avignon. A huge beautiful walled city, encompassing an old Roman town, palace and church ... read more

After two train cancellations on Sunday our backpacks grew heavy. Upon arrival into Brugges things started to look up. This town is GORGEOUS!! we did some exploring on foot and then jumped on a boat to tour the canals in the company of a dry humor comedian/guide. With 17 churches and more bridges than we could count we were blown away by all the 13th century medieval architecture. The oldest bridge was built in the 1200's and the newest in the 1700's...which is warmly refered to as the ugliest bridge in town. Beautiful cobblestone streets are very narrow here making walking and cycling tricky... Not as crazy as Amsterdam though! Carefully maintained ancient gothic buildings and quaint cafes rule the streets here. We came home in time to dress is our neon orange boa's, a Holland ... read more