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 Friday 5 October

Set off early today in order to beat crowds at the Louvre. Took the green line metro train: standing room only. After two or three stops all passengers were told to leave the train and wait for the next one. Our empty train moved off and another arrived a few minutes later. Trouble is it was just as crowded as the first ,,but on we all piled. At one point I counted body contact with five other people. Didn't think I'd ever been as squashed before but I didn't know what was about to happen...after a another couple of stops we were once again told to vacate this second train. You guessed it. Full platform and the next train to arrive was standing room only. We all piled in...

Arrived at Louvre around ten saw a great deal of what was to offer in the Denon, Richelieu and Sully wings. Used audio, maps, cameras and feet. Limped back and caught the train back to Place d'Italie. Visited the underground supermarche, 'Champion', and checked out the mall. Prices are high and saw nothing you wouldn't be able to buy in Melbourne. Dinner in a nice little restaurant facing Place d'Italie. Only three more nights before we have to leave but looking forward to catching up with everybody at home.

 

 

 

 

 

Thursday 4 October

First day in Paris and, armed with our maps from the hotel we set off via underground to find the Eiffel Tower. Hopped off at Eiffel Tower station (as you do) and still no sign of a tower. Followed crowds and were just wondering which direction to take when we rounded a corner and there it was (see first glimpse picture). Weather was overcast and slightly misty though the temp was around 20 C. Queues at the different pillars were about equal so we opted for the lift. We've done staircases for five weeks; we're ready for lifts now.

Took diagonal lift to second tier after waiting 45 minutes to buy our ticket. Changed to the vertical lift and went up to the top. Visiblity somewhat reduced though we could see out across Paris in all directions. Souvenir shops were full of tacky offerings. Bought a hot drink (it was cold up there) and some lunch and watched a one-legged pigeon feeding off crumbs inside the cafe

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

26 Sept - 3 Oct 

We have visited castles and caves and seen fantastic views from great heights.

 

 

 

 

 

Wednesday 26 Sept 

Drove car from Geneve to Molieres in the south of France. (I typed this before the drive. It turned out to be a much longer drive than we had anticipated.)

Our hire car was a Citroen C4 with inbult navigator so we duly plugged in our destination. All seemed to be going well. We were headed in the right general direction. Then, late afternoon we noticed we were going too far to the south. We checked maps etc and had our first stop for the day ... dinner. Further  up the road we checked the directions given by the gite owners and made the awful discovery that we still had 150 km to go. 'Our' Molieres wasn't on our road map. Anyway we arrived at 3 am much the wiser and after seeing much more of the south of France than we otherwise would have.

 

 

 

 

Tues 25 Sept

Took  EC train from Milano Centrale to Brig, Switzerland. The countryside (and temperature) changed radically during this trip, from flat and warm to mountainous and chilly enough for coats. We were meant to connect at Brig with another train to Geneva Airport but our train ended up being delayed (in a tunnel!) for 30 minutes and we arrived after our connection had left. Caught another train - near empty - an hour later. At Geneva Airport, French sector we picked up our rental car: a Citroen C4. THIS ONE CAME WITH GPS! Yahhoo! It took us a while to figure where the parking brake was. The car manuals were all in French.

Hotel very close to airport. Went to our first French restaurant on French soil ... L'Imprevu...fabulous food and service AND THE WAITRESS ACTUALLY UNDERSTOOD MY FRENCH!

Milan for one day. Trained from Venice Mestre to Milan Centrale and walked to the hotel. Then caught underground to Duomo. Pics can be enlarged by clicking.

First night caught train to Venice. Wandered the streets and canals, had dinner, went back to Mestre hotel by bus.

Next day caught bus back. Much more wandering though hampered by huge crowds. So many people we judged it not useful to line up to go into St Mark's Basilica. With so many people around the place seems a bit of a circus. Around 5 the crowds thin and Venice starts looking very pretty