Italy/France/UK

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Ok, yes, it has been over two weeks since our last update!! Wow, has time flown!

First come first, we wanted to back track and tell you about something that happened when we were leaving the

Sorrento/Naples area. We had been warned about Naples, so decided not to go and what happened on the autobarn proved our

decision correct.

Everywhere in Germany/Italy/France has tolls that you have to pay. The locals have cards that they can use to go through

the toll booths, however everyone has to pay either cash or credit card. Some tollbooths are manned, but the majority are

automated, where you use c/c or pay via coins/notes into the machine.

We had no problems throughout our trip, until we got to the Tollbooth outside of Naples. We thought it a little strange

that there was a Sudanese Man standing at the tollbooth (not inside the booth). We pulled up and he said Machine Broken,

that the toll was 10 Euro. It seemed very odd, Andrew didn't believe him and asked him to move so we could see how much the

toll actually was. He said 10 Euro and to give him the money and he would pay it in the machine. Yeah right.. Andrew told

him to move again and he finally did. Then we saw the machine said 2 Euro. Andrew put the 2 Euro coin in the machine and

it straight out rejected it. Not feeling safe with the guy standing next to our car and knowing that if we gave him any

money, we wouldn't get anything back, we took our 2 Euro and reversed out of that Toll line. We drove into a tollbooth

with a person serving, he took our 2 Euro and let us through. We felt like saying something, like maybe he should call the

cops, but we got the feeling that he knew about what was going on and was probably getting a kickback of some sort. When

we drove off, we saw that there was another 2 - 3 guys standing around doing the same thing. It was a terrible feeling to

go away with of the area.

Enough of the bad news... back to our travels.

We left Pisa and headed north past Genoa to Alessandria. This is where Andrews Grandpa was from in Italy. We arrived and

managed to find a market (we seem to be good at this), there were people selling clothes, meat, fish and also Salami and

Cheese! Through broken Italian/English, we managed to buy some salami and cheese to take away, they even let us sample it

before we bought any. It was yummy, so we were definitely happy to buy some to take away. Our visit to Alessandria was

only an hour or so, but we were glad to have seen it.

From here, we went to Savona. Savona was a pit stop on the way to Nice, France. Savona was quite pretty and we were

staying at the Docks. We learnt during our time there, that this was the home port of the Costa Cruise Ships (of the Costa

Concordia boat that is shipwrecked off Italy). There was not alot open (shop wise) around the port, at least not until the

Cruise Ships come in (suddenly everything was open). There was lots of restaurants around, so thankfully we were able to

grab some dinner easily.

Savona was our last stop in Italy. We were sad to leave Italy, but it was a dream come true to visit and we loved it. We

crossed the border from Italy to France, then a little further in, went into the country of Monaco. (I didn't realise it

was its own country), but wow, it is an expensive country to live in! It is tiny, probably the size of Narre Warren, but

lots and lots of money there! After there, we headed to Nice. This was really pretty seaside. The French Riviera is very

pretty and can imagine that in Summer this place would be very busy. To go on the beach here, you have to pay and

depending on how much you pay, is what you get.. if you pay 50 Euro you get two chairs and an umbrella for the day.

Same story in Cannes down the road, the hotels "own" parts of the beach and you can pay them to go onto their beach.

Sounds crazy, but is matter of fact in this part of the world.

After the French Riviera, we headed to Montpellier. There was also more of a stopover, as it was on the way to Millau and

the world famous Millau suspension bridge (Millau Viaduct) everyone knows this one, the emails of it went round and round

for a couple of years. Well it's a sight to see! It's huge! The valley it crosses is so deep, it must have been a massive

pain to travel through the area before the bridge. There is an information centre at the start of the bridge that shows a

video of how it was built.

We then continued on to Clermont-Ferrand, another stop over town. From here we headed to Chamonix (Mont Blanc), we ran

into a large thunder storm on the way which made travelling quite difficult but as we arrived it settled down. Chamonix is

exactly what you would picture as a French Alpine town, tall buildings with steep pitch roofs, brown/white timber facade,

just beautiful. Mont Blanc was just visible between the clouds & fog before it went dark, you could see the snow all over

it. Chamonix is 1100 Meters above sea level so it was quite cold, and even colder at night.

We went out for dinner at a traditional French restaurant and yes, we had snails for entree. Umm.. interesting, but don't

need to have it again is what I would say 😊. The one French item that I would more than happy to have over and over again

is Creme Brulee! Beautiful!

While in Chamonix we went via cable car up the mountain top of 3800m, breathtakingly high (literally), Andrew and I lasted

30 mins before we had to come back down. The view was amazing, but breathing at that height was hard. While I was walking

around, I suddenly got whacked in the back, turning around, here is Andrew with a big smile and me covered in snow! Cheeky

bugger I am married too.

There was also a large number of paragliders jumping off the mountains around us, amazing to see and brought back memories

Reece!

From Chamonix, we went to Dijon. Which again was another pit-stop on our way heading to Paris. While there, we had to

decide on another stop between there and Paris. We decided to visit Reims, which is near Epernay. The story behind this,

is the French Government are quite smart and have Trade-Marked the name Champagne. The only companies that can call their

product Champagne, must be located in this area and also must only use the grapes from this area.

Hence, this is the home of Moet & Chandon! We found out that you can do tours, where they take you down into the caves

where the champagne is stored. Moet & Chandon's caves are 27 klms long underground. They are approx 30 meters underground

and stay at a temperature of 10 - 12 degrees all year round. From when the grapes are harvested to when the champagne goes

on sale, it is a minimum of 3 years. If they have a very good year with lots of grapes, they may make a vintage, the time

for this is a minimum of 7 years before going on sale.

Moet & Chandon also created and own the Don Perignon brand. There is a minimum of 7 years from grapes to selling for this

brand. But what they said, is that there is no maximum time for Champagne, it just keeps getting better with age. At the

end we had tastings and Andrew is converted. He was never a big Champagne fan, but after tasting Moet & Chandon, think he

will be happy to have a glass or two 😊.

PARIS, my oh my where do I start about Paris??

Maybe the fact that our cars GPS managed to direct us right through the guts of Paris, resulting in Andrew driving up the

Champs-Elysee on a Sunday afternoon, up to the biggest roundabout that we have ever seen. Must have been a 6 lane

roundabout with no lines on the road, so everyone just drives around wherever they want. It was a stressful drive, one

that Andrew was glad to get over!

Our accommodation was a little out of Paris, but thankfully they had a bus which took us the nearest train station, which

was an easy ride into the city.

Our first day in Paris, we headed towards the Louvre (hoping to chance no lines for entry). Hopes were dashed when the

sign at the end of the queue said there was a two hour wait to get in. We decided to go for a walk around the shops and

when we returned to the same queue an hour later, it was completely gone. We couldn't quite believe it, so walked up the

door and got straight through security and into the Louvre with no queue. We were amazed and had no idea where the queue

went, but who cares, we were in!!!

Everyone gets an Audio Guide to go around the museum (which was a Nintendo 3DS) but it ends up being a lifesaver, as it

can tell you at anytime where you are located in the Museum (room/floor), so it makes it heaps easier to figure our where

you have got lost into.

We were there for around 2 hours (saw the major items - Mona Lisa (which to be honest was a lot smaller than I thought it

would be), Michelangelos Statues (nothing compared to the David though). It was an amazing experience to visit and would

suggest everyone should go! Just make sure you have your patience in order that day. (for the queue and for the people who

push and walk into you).

Next day was Tuesday and as the Louvre is shut on Tuesdays, everyone heads out to all the other tourist attractions. We

had read that the lines for the Eiffel Tower could get really long, so got out of bed very early (6am - normal work time),

to have brekkie and aimed to be at the Eiffel Tower 8:30/9am. We got there around 9 and there was already a huge queue of

people!

It was a little confusing as to which line to join (there were multiples), we were lucky we saw a Tour Guide who had a

group and told us to join the queue at the end of her group, as this was another entry gate. We did and we got in really

quickly which was great. The weather was perfect, sun, cloudless sky but it was chilly and windy up the top. Magnificent

views of Paris, you realise just how big the city really is. They are building a new First Level on the Eiffel Tower, so

there was construction work going on.. what a place to be working on!

From there we hopped on a Seine River Cruise, nice way to see the sights of Paris. After our cruise, we hopped on to a Hop

On Hop Off Bus, that took us around the sights of Paris.

Next day, we visited Notre Dame Cathedral and did some shopping. We headed back to the accom to get changed as we were

heading to Moulin Rogue that night. We arrived early (thankfully) and got great seats just a table away from the stage. It

was amazing and definitely a unique experience. The dancers were amazing and yes you couldn't help but look at the girls

assets jiggling around.

They had support acts (musician/juggler, acrobats and a ventroliquist) who were fantastic. It was a great show and one you

shouldn't miss if you come.

Our final day in Paris was packing/washing and doing a Night Tour of Paris. We saw the Eiffel Tower all lit up and

sparkling, truly amazing.

Friday was our leaving day in Paris, our day to hand back our Lease Car (which we had grown quite attached to) but also

our day of leaving Europe to head back into the UK. When we were looking at coming back to the UK, we were debating about

whether to catch the Eurostar or Ferry. With the terrible weather, we had thought the Eurostar would be better, until we

saw the price, it was almost triple the price of the ferry. So we thought we would take our luck with the ferry.

We were lucky, the weather was a little wet and dreary but the crossing was fine. We paid a little extra to sit in the

lounge and had comfy lounge seats sitting next to the window during our trip. The entire trip was around 1 & 1/2 hours, so

not too long at all. The White Cliffs of Dover were beautiful.

We picked up our rental car from the Port and headed out towards Maidstone. Maidstone was a quick stopover, then we headed

to Portsmouth (another stopover) on our way to Stonehenge. Stonehenge was thankfully not too busy, but wet, cold and

miserable (just how they talk about England weather). It was great to see, but it started pouring on us halfway around, so

we had to hike it out of there.

Next we stopped in Cardiff, Wales. We are falling in love with all the little pubs they have over here. Good food and

friendly atmosphere, even when the football was on! By nightfall, the clouds let loose and it was pouring. We headed out

for dinner and found another little pub, with great food and cheap!

That brings us to today, we have gone from Cardiff to Liverpool and are staying here tonight. Weather is getting cooler,

around 9 Degrees during the day. So a little jealous of the weather at home, but I guess it is consistently cold here, not

moving around like it is at home.

We have 12 days left until we are home, we are heading around England until Sunday and from Sunday to Thursday will be

based in London. We haven't been able to make it to Ireland, which is unfortunate, but hopefully another time 😊.

Hope all is well with everyone, update soon.

A & A

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