Last day in Paris

Well its nearly all over! We spent our last day here is Paris being rained on! We went to the catacombs- a bit eerie but interesting then we spent some time looking around the Rodin Gallery (the man was a maniac. I cant believe that one man could make so many bronze and marble sculptures). All in all its been a fantastic trip and its sad to be leaving.



Millions of bones in the disused quarry under Paris's streets (the catacombs)




The Thinker by Rodin





Just singing in the rain (in Paris)



Metz and Verdun

We decided not to go north to Germany or Luxemburg as we were running out of time and energy. We decided to head west to Paris very slowly. We stopped at Metz, a vibrant little city, beautiful in its autumn colours. It has 34m square of park land per capita and they are very proud of it! 

Cait and Andrew enjoying the interactive park in the heart of Metz. they had about 6 gardeners putting in new plants for the winter and tidying up the fallen leaves.





Swans landing on the Moselle River at the base of a 16th centuary church




walking through cobbled streets in Metz near the uni



After leaving Metz we made our way slowly west and stopped overnight at Verdun. Verdun is a very quiet almost depressing place, especially compared to Metz. On the outskirts of Verdun are numerous WWI memorials. They are several grave yards with rows and rows of crosses marking fallen soldiers.



Moving tribute to the fallen





All thats left of a once quiet little village. The French government gave the land to the forestry dept to re-vegetate because the surving locals couldn't rebuild the town or farm the land. There were about 5 villages that were completely destroyed and all thats left are holes with their surrounding mounds that bombs left. Very moving and devestating.



Alsace

Alsace is a very interesting place. Lots of quaint villages with brightly coloured houses surrounded by vineyards. It is a great time of the year to be here as the autumn colours are wonderful, its raining yellow leaves everywhere- something we aren't used to seeing in Australia! The area is known for its white wines and Andrew and I had a merry time tasting the different vareties at 11am the other day. Their reislings are not as sweet as Australia's nor is their muscat a fortified wine. I left the cellar very happy and giggled all the way past several villages! Its unfortunate that we can only take a limited amount of alcohol back to Aust, I could have easily fill two boxes.

Switzerland

We left Como Thursday 28th for a relative short drive to Interlaken, Switerlandand. what a beautiful place. I should have worked harder learning German as everyone speaks German and not French in Interlaken!!  I did however answer in Italian when the hotel owner asked me something in German! One major downsid to Switerland -VERY EXPENSIVE!



Caitlin caught on film throwing a smow ball at me. It hit its aim...down my singlet!



We spent a day taking the rack railway uo to the Kleine Scheidegg Pass up to Jungfrau, the Monch and the Eiger mountains, the highest in Europe (called 'Top of Europe'). It was a beautiful sunny day with low wind and a top of 0.4C.



the three of us in the Ice Palace



Lake Como

After leaving Lerici we followed the coast along Cinque Terre and then headed north to Lake Como. We took the funiculore to the highest town in the Como area then the ferry to a lovely cobbled street village (which is very popular with the tourist).

Leaning tower of Pisa



Basilica at Pisa




close up ot the tower's floors



After deciding we were going to head south to the Ligurian coast, the weather turned nasty! A storm raged Sunday night and it brough heavy constant rain. It didnt deter us, we wanted to see The Tower! It rained most of the way but stopped as we reached the parking lot so we were able to enjoy the area around the tower- the basilica and the cathedral - without getting wet. Caitlin and I climbed the tower as Andrew had been there and done that as a 7 year old. It was an experience walking up the stairs and around the tilting floor, something that I didn't feel comfotable with but pleased I did it. Italy is not short of amazing buildings, mostly centered around their faith. The tower was built around the 1400's as a bell tower for the cathedral next door.

We drove through 'Cinque Terre' on the way up to Como today. Fantastic views from the never ending steep  twisty roads.
Sorry...will post more pictures when I get faster internet speed, taking ages to upload at the moment.

The Gulf of Poets

View from our hotel window in Lerici

Here we are along the Italian Ligurian Coast. We are staying in a hotel across from the beach and I can hear the sound of the gentle waves crashing along the shoreline as I watch sail boats sway rythmically (this IS known as the Gulf of Poets, so I'm being poetic- if not corny!).

Last week was very hectic. Brenden spent most of the week in Tuscany with us. We visited the local area and major cities:
Siena

In the city square in Siena

fountain in city square, Siena

view of Siena

Firenze (Florence)

Along the Ponte Vecchio

Caitlin tempting the carabinieri

perverted sculpture in one of the city's squares (look at those abs!)

 

 

Roma

       In front of a Roman king's shrine in Rome (nicked named 'the wedding cake'

The Colosseum, an amazing place

market place in Roma dating back to 80AD