A Quick Break in Paris (France)

We spent our first afternoon in Paris in a cute little corner cafe. By now, we were pretty used to trying to fit a huge city into a few days, and we knew the best way was to start with a solid plan. Over tea and espressos, we made a plan for the next few days. Unfortunately, while we were doing that, we also missed one of the few brief periods of sunny, clear skies that Paris would show us.

Our first stop was the Eiffel Tower, and since it was a rainy, grim evening, we were some of the few tourists who decided to make the accent (although somehow we yet again managed to pick the lift full of German teenagers). The top level was closed because of the strong winds, but level two was perfectly high enough to experience the wonderful views (and the horrible winds).

Dinner that night was in a blissfully warm award-winning little restaurant a short walk from our hotel in the Latin Quartier. Feeling a bit poor, fat and not overly hungry, we decided to just order an entree each, which confused the waitress - she had to go and check with the chef it that was alright. Everything must have been fine, because shortly after, they brought us wonderful serves of pate de fois gras and Camembert. We followed our small but very rich meals with desserts of apple tarte tatin and chocolate amadeus.

The nice people running the Paris Walks had an excellent morning walk around the Marais district the next morning, so we decided to tag along (after receiving the devastating news that the Paris Chocolate walk was all booked out). Again, it was a good dose of history and interesting stories, and a great way to see part of a big city. We grabbed a quick lunch of bagels, quiche and almond croissants bought from a Jewish bakery and ate them amongst the former mansions in the Place de Voges.

Then it was a metro ride across to the Musee d'Orsay so Karina could get her fill of Monet and other impressionist paintings. We had hoped to get to the Musee Rodin to see the sculptures, but we spent too long looking at paintings. So instead we decided to walk all the way along the Champs Elysees - in the rain - to the Arc de Triomphe (stopping for a coffee and people-watching along the way). We climbed to the top of the Arc de Triomphe for another bird's eye view of Paris (and a chance to see the cars, buses and scooters try to negotiate the roundabout below).

We had dinner at a place in the Marais, just on the other side of the River Seine from where we were staying. After dinner we walked past Notre Dame, which was all lit up for the evening, and across the Ponte Louis, which is apparently the most romantic spot in Paris (we're guessing because of the accordian player on the corner, but we're not sure, because he wasn't that good).

Simon was very excited about going to the Musee des Arts et Metiers (the depository for scientific instruments and equipment) - especially to get a chance to see Foucault pendulum. Karina was not. So the next morning, while Simon looked around the museum like a small child in a lolly shop, Karina went shopping and bought a new pair of shoes. Seemed like a good compromise to us! After we met up again, we decided to finish our ABC tour of Europe, with a visit to Notre Dame. We climbed up a thousand million stairs to get to the top of the bell tower, talked to the gargoyles (Karina was disappointed - they looked very under-fed, and not nearly gargoyley enough), and then climbed back down.

After a late lunch of French onion soup and an omelette, we managed to squeeze in a quick visit to the Musee Rodin before finally making it to the Louvre. It supposedly would take 9 months to just glance at every item in the Louvre, so we settled on just visiting one wing - predictably the wing that contains the Mona Lisa. We spent two hours looking at hundreds of fabulous paintings, before joining the small crowd in front of da Vinci's most famous work. After quickly getting bored of a picture we'd both seen thousands of times in other places (even if this one was the original), we made the fateful decision to quickly check out a couple of the Michelangelo sculptures before going out to celebrate our last night in Europe.

But we never made it.

Despite having walked up and down hundreds of thousands of stairs on this trip, climbed over rubble and ruins, navigated slippery paths and rocky roads, it was on the second last step of a short flight of marble stairs in the Louvre where Karina managed to fall down and break her ankle.

Of course, we didn't know it was broken, until five hours later, after we'd found the Louvre infirmary, ridden in a fire truck, discovered there's no such thing as a reverse-charges phone call in France, dealt with non-English speaking nurses and waited in casualty until 2am.

We were stuck in Paris for an extra night while the travel insurance people sorted things out for us. If there's a city in the world that you have to be stuck in, you could do much worse than Paris. We didn't manage to walk around Montmarte (which we'd planned for our last morning), but we were still able to have our special "last night in Europe" dinner (Simon tried snails, Karina stayed with the pate), and to enjoy some more people watching and cheese platters from Paris' wonderful cafes.

What can you do? C'est la vie!!

Aix Marks the Spot (France)

Aix-en-Provence (pronounced like the letter X) is such a lovely place, we will have to try and refrain from gushing too much in this post! It has everything - tree-lined boulevards, 100 fountains, wonderful cafes and restaurants, interesting quirky shops, a well organised tourist centre, and the great little old backstreets that we've come to love so much. The difference between the backstreets of France and some of the other cities we've visited is that in France the old parts of the cities seem to be just another part of the city and everyday life, rather than preserved for the tourists, so they seem much more real.

And then, there were the markets!!! The markets we've seen on this trip have just been getting better and better, and Aix-en-Provence takes the cake. From fruit markets, to flea markets, spice markets, and the beautiful flower markets. We had been wanting to find an original painting on our travels, and everything we'd seen so far had been fairly touristy and mass produced, but Aix presented us with a small street market of local artists and authors displaying their works. We found a beautiful painting of Aix's flower market, and bought it straight from the artist himself.

On our first day in Aix, after spending the morning browsing through the markets, we followed the Cezanne walking route (much better than the one in Marseille). It was a Saturday afternoon, and the city centre was bustling, so we joined the locals in poking around the shops and the streets, and soaking up the atmosphere over cups of coffee, gourmet buscuits and nougat. We love how accepting the French are of dogs (even more so than the other countries we've visited) - there are little dogs everywhere, in shops, restaurants, public transport - Bella would have a lovely time!

The next day we caught a bus through the countryside to a village on Mount Sainte Victoire, which turned out to be a very sleepy little village (maybe because it was Sunday morning). We filled in a couple of hours before the next bus back to Aix, admiring the countryside, and checking out the old buildings. The afternoon we were back in Aix, and since nothing was open, we again followed the locals' example, grabbed our books and headed to the park.

This post wouldn't be complete without a mention of the Provence food. The district has a very rich culinary tradition, and some of things we sampled were Bouillabaise, baked duck breast, crepes and baked cod. And given that Aix is still so close to North Africa, we had brekky at a Moroccan bakery, and found a Tunisian restaurant for a wonderful cous cous lunch.

Given that we only had time to see one small part of France other than Paris, we're so glad that we chose Provence, and Aix-en-Provence in particular!

Passing Through Marseille (France)

From the Côte D'Azur, we headed to Provence for a few nights. We were staying in Aix-en-Provence, and so decided to do our day in Marseille on the way through. After dumping our luggage at the station lockers, we grabbed a map from the tourist office and headed down to the old port.

The guide books had raved about how Marseille had a wonderful gritty, edgy vibe and pulsed with energy from the meeting of French, Mediterranean and North African cultures. But we must have got it on a quiet day, becuase to us it just seemed like Naples without the character and charm.

The city of Marseille had set up a walking route through Le Panier district, highlighting the artisan craft and food shops which sounded right up our alley. The Lonely Planet had commented that the red line painted on the footpath to mark the trail was a little erratic - occasionally going down dead ends and at one point straight into a tree. We found it was in even worse condition - road works had destroyed the line in places, occasionally it forked in confusing directions, turned corners not marked on the map and seemed to avoid most of the interesting looking shops in the heart of the district in favour of the closed auto repair shops around the edges.

In the afternoon we took a boat trip out to the Château d'If, a former fortress turned political prison, and was made famous by The Count of Monte Cristo. The museum on the island seemed to be a bit confused about whether it was trying to explain the building as a historical monument or a literary one, and so didn't do either particularly well. But it was a fun visit, even with the dangerous giant sea gulls and the huge primary school group on the boat back (where the teacher decided the empty seat next to Karina was the punishment seat, and so kept sending naughty kids to sit there).

That was about it for Marseille, so after a lazy afternoon tea, we caught our train to Aix-en-Provence.

Karina & Simon Go to Monte Carlo (Monaco)

Since it was just down the road from Nice, we caught the bus along the coast for an afternoon in Monte Carlo. Yet again, we were disappointed not to get a stamp in our passports, but we guessed all the officials were too busy setting things up for the upcoming Grand Prix.

After working out how to cross the road with all the construction work going on, we climbed up the giant hill to drop in on Prince Albert. He kindly gave us a guided tour of his house, which included lots of pictures of Grace Kelly. On the way down the hill, we ogled the giant yachts moored in the harbour and headed over to Casino Monte Carlo for an afternoon of people watching at the Cafe de Paris.

We didn't see anyone famous (that we recognised), not even Daniel Craig, much to Karina's disappointment. But we did see some very rich people, some people trying to look very rich, people with more money than taste, people who'd dressed up for the visit, people who hadn't dressed up, and people who just thought they'd dressed up (occasionally with horrifying results). Once we'd had our fill, we decided to try and beat the impending rain, and caught the bus back to Nice.

A "Nice" Beginning (France)

We decided to take a taxi to our youth hostel in Nice, because it was a bit out of town, but it wasn't easy finding a taxi who would agree to take us. Apparently there was a big football game up near the hostel, and therefore lots of traffic. Eventually we found a driver who'd forgotten about the game, so we made it in the end.

If you like youth hostels, and are ever in Nice, Villa St Exupery is a great place to stay, even if it is a bit out of town. It was a converted monastry, with ensuited dorms and private rooms, and everything you could possibly need. They had a good breakfast selection, they offered a couple of dinner options, they had a bar with beers for €1, free internet access, and they provided so much detailed tourist information that it made everything so easy.

The next morning, despite the recommended bus line not running (much to the confusion of locals and tourists alike), we eventually made it into Nice's old town to kick off our one day in the French Riviera. We explored the fabulous markets, and picked up some cheese, some terrine and some fruit for a picnic lunch, which we ate by the beach. The ocean there really does live up to its name - the Côte D'Azur - we've never seen water so many different shades of blue. But we can't really understand why anyone would want to sunbathe or even walk on those horrible expanses of pebbles that Europe calls beaches!

The afternoon was spent in Monaco, and then it was back to Nice for dinner. After wandering through the streets filled with amazing delis, cheese shops, spice stores, bakeries, wine 'caves' and restaurants, we found that night's Lonely Planet dinner recommendation, which really did look like something "straight out of an impressionist painting". We were obviously too early, because we found the owner and his family/staff sitting around having dinner in the middle of the restaurant. They were very welcoming, but we left them to it and came back half an hour later for a fantastic meal of traditional French home-cooking. Getting home after dinner, we discovered that Nice has a fantastic night bus service, complete with on-bus security guards, and little old nannas who help you figure out when to get off for your stop.

The next morning we were up again at the crack of dawn to catch the train to Marseilles. A girl from the youth hostel drove us to the station in the hostel van. Unfortunately for her, she must have been chanelling Karina's skills in a crowded parking lot, and managed to scrape the side of another car on the way out of the hostel. Oops. We're glad we cancelled our car hire for the south of France!

Romantic Venice (Italy)

Venice has been slowly sinking into the marshes that it was built on, but fortunately we arrived in time to see it still afloat. We couldn't quite believe just how much Venice looks like all the pictures. It was amazing to see that everything really is done on the water - take any vechicle you'd see in a normal city, and Venice has a boat version. During our short stay, we saw water taxis, gondolas, delivery boats, garbage boats, fire boats and even a police boat - complete with lights and sirens - speeding to some emergency.

Our hotel was a former palace right by a canal, only a short walk from Piazza San Marco (St Mark's Square). After looking through the Basilica (completing our Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle tour of Italy with a Donatello sculpture), we walked around the square, decided not to have €13 coffees at Cafe Florian (where Casanova used to frequent) and contemplated buying some original Picasso and Dali works on sale at a gallery.

We delved into the heart of old Venice, and spent a lovely evening losing ourselves amongst the picturesque streets, canals and bridges. We made sure not to miss Venice's best gelati (finishing our "best gelati" tour of Italy), Karina got a new bag to match her new shoes, we took a ride on a very shiny black gondola (getting ourselves in lots of people's Venice photo albums), and had dinner at another wine bar.

The next morning we had just enough time to head up to another square (surprisingly off the main tourist track) for some morning tea, before taking the boat-bus down the Grand Canal and back to the train station. Venice was a lovely way to end our time in Italy, and before we knew it (for once, the Italian trains seemed to be on time), we were heading for France.

Under the Tuscan Rain (Italy)

Well, we did make it to Tuscany eventaully, despite the GPS doing its best to send us around in circles, through construction sites, and off the freeway into the farmland below. The villa we were staying at (you can check it out at http://www.borgoilpoggiaccio.it) had a lovely restaurant - which was fortunate because the villa was in the middle of nowhere - so we decided to have dinner there to recover from the journey. Donato, the lovely Italian Maitre'D, looked after us like royalty, saying 'Don't worry, trust me!!'. He proceeded to bring us lovely bottle of Chianti wine (which we hoped was not the €280 bottle off the menu), lovely Tuscan cuisine, and lots of smiles and stories.

We had four days in Tuscany. Unlike Santorini, the weather was bleak and rainy pretty much the whole time, but like Santorini, we figured one activity a day was probably enough. There was a designer outlet mall only an hour away, so we spent an afternoon looking through discounted Gucci, Armani, La Perla, Marni and Burberry stores. Despite being prepared to walk away with armfuls of clothes and shoes, we didn't end up with anything! At least Karina still has her Gucci bag from Rome!

The next day we went on a winery tour through the Chianti region, visiting two wineries (one small family-owned, one large commercially owned) and a few small villages. Despite us only having 20 minutes in the last village, Karina managed to find an Italian shoe store, find a pair of shoes she loved, tried them on and buy them. Simon thinks it must have been a reaction to not buying anything the day before.

Not wanting to waste the brief period of good weather (and feeling the need to at least try and work off some of the food we'd been eating), we decided to go for a walk through the woods the next morning. We followed what was marked on the map as a "mule track" up past an old castle (in the process of becoming a hotel school), a pond full of frogs, and came to the top of a hill with a fantastic view of the country side. In the afternoon we headed to the village of San Gimignano, and looked around the galleries, shops and old buildings (and tracked down the award-winning, best gelati in San Gimignano).

On our last day, we checked out the town of Siena, which was bigger but not as enjoyable as San Gimignano. Apartly Siena is the safest city in Italy. Simon thinks this is because of the pigeons. What thief is going to stick his hands into your pockets after a pigeon has pooed into it (yes, this did really happen to Simon). Karina managed to leave her camera in an Internet cafe, but fortunately it was still there a few hours later when she realised. After all our adventures, we ran out of time to climb the Siena town hall tower, so instead we went back to our apartment and sat by our log fire all afternoon.

The Tuscan food was good, but Karina did inadvertantly manage to have spaghetti bolognase three times (apparently once with duck, once with beef and once with wild boar - but we couldn't tell the difference). On this trip, she has now eaten Bambi, Bugs Bunny, Donald Duck, and Pumba. The mysterious wine Donato served us on the first night was so good we decided to buy a dozen bottles. It cost us as much to ship home as the wine itself, but since the villa owns the entire 2003 vintage, and you can't get it anywhere else (and since it was the nicest red we'd ever drunk), we thought it was worth it.

Despite our concerns about how long the drive back to Florence would take us, and where the GPS would send us, we made it without any trouble, and with more then enough time to catch our train and head for Venice.

One Fleeting Day in Florence (Italy)

As our train came into Florence, the little Italian Nonna sitting across the aisle from us gestured that she needed some help getting her bags off the train. Simon was happy to help. Six bags and two cakes later, Karina was on the platform surrounded by luggage and Simon was being chucked under the chin by the immensely grateful old lady.

Yet again we decided to drag our bags from the station up to our accommodation, and instantly noticed the difference between Florence and Naples - both much cleaner and much safer. Our conversation with the lady at the B&B upon arriving went something like:

Karina: Do you speak English?
B&B Lady: No, do you speak Italian?
Karina: No, do you speak French?
B&B Lady: No, do you speak Spanish?

We decided to give up before getting to Japanese, but managed to get by with a lot of nodding and smiling, and the Lonely Planet's Language section.

From the our first taste of dinner that night, we knew we were going to love Florence, and that one day wasn't going to be nearly enough. Karina's rabbit and Simon's steak were both amazing and we had our first taste of the famous Chianti red wine.

The next morning we joined yet another queue, this time to look through the Uffizi Gallery to see such famous paintings as The Birth of Venus by Botticelli. We past the two hours of waiting talking to a friendly and very interesting American named Ed. The gallery was good, but didn't leave us much time to see the rest of Florence. We grabbed a quick bite for lunch, after crossing the Ponte Vecchio (a bridge filled with gold and silver smiths). After briefly poking around the quaint streets, we had just enough time to track down Florence's best gelati before heading off to pick up our car.

The drive out of Florence wasn't too bad - Simon's now used to driving on the wrong side of the road, and much to everyone's surprise, Karina can actually read a map! But the drive to the airport to pick up a GPS was an eye-opening introduction to Italian drivers. Still, it was less chaotic than Naples...

We were really disapointed to have had such little time in Florence. It really felt like we barely scratched the surface. Yet another place we'll have to come back to!

The Sights & Smells of Naples (Italy)

Despite the many bad things we'd heard about Napels, we were determined to visit, both to see Pompeii and to see the city itself. We got off the train just before dark, and couldn't decide if it would be scarier to walk the 250m from the station to our B&B (through the very dodgie neighbourhood), or try dealing with a possibly very dodgie taxi driver. In the end we decided to brave the walk and haul our bags through the drizzle. Once safely inside, we discovered the B&B was exactly at the owner had promised - perfect on the inside.

We know that in most places in Europe people drive on the other side of the road from in Australia, but we couldn't work out what side of the road they drive on in Naples. And as far as the scooters were concerned, there was no difference between the road and the footpath. We did learn how to cross the road Naples-style - when you get to a road, don't look left or right, just walk straight across and hope for the best!

We discovered while in Rome, that Pompeii was closed on the 1st of May - the day we had set aside for our visit. But thankfully the B&B owner set us straight at breakfast on our first morning, and since it was a public holiday, we only had to pay €1 instead of €11. Pompeii was great - it wasn't very crowded, the weather was (mostly) nice but not too hot and we had an excellent day exploring the ancient town. We finished the day with a dinner back in Naples at a cafe-come-bookshop-come-publishing house in the quirky Piazza Bellini.

The rain seemed to have washed away a lot of the grime of Naples, but had unfortunately left many of the more "characteristic" smells. We wandered the backstreets, checked out the catherdral and had lunch in the old fishing village at the harbour. The harbour, especially the area where the big cruise ships were docking, was noticably cleaner and had a much stronger police presence. Although, as we walked through, a man emerged from an alley and asked if we were interested in buying his "beautiful laptop".

We really enjoyed Naples, but we were very pleased to be back on the train with all our possessions, albeit with very grubby jeans and smelly shoes!