Italy so far

After traveling for hours and hours on windy mountainous roads through thousands of tunnels, we finally arrived at our Tuscan destination. Chianti, the area of Tuscany, is very beautiful with lots of large vineyards with their buildings set on the highest point of the property-picture perfect places. Food is great and the waistline is expanding!

We have just spent four very busy days in Lyon with Brenden's French exchange family. We were treated to fabulous Lyonnais food every night as our host went out of her way to prepare traditional Lyon four-course meals. Lyon is a very beautiful city full of history, including Roman ruins 1000 years old.

Roman ruins in Lyon

Andrew and I with our hosts Pascal and Francoise at the Roman ruins

Andrew and I with Marseille in the the back ground

Old Marseille harbour

Cait with a couple of small cakes in St Remy de Provence

a swim in the Mediterranean Sea

Cait and Anne in Lyon

We are now in Cassis, east of Marseille. The south coast is lovely but very busy and full of tourists. The weather has been mild, Cait and Andrew went for a swim in the Mediterranean Sea.

Our house

This is where we are staying.

heading south

Arrived at our gorgeous medieval 14th century home (in an amazing medieval village of Limeuil) late Saturday evening. Went straight to dinner at the local restuarant which, like everywhere in France, had great food. The village is set on a hill overlooking the Dordogne and Vezere Rivers. The village was established as a port as transportation of many goods was done by boat. The church bells wakes the whole village up at 8am but if that doesn't wake you the goats with their bells and bleating or the 100s of roostres will.
We spent Sunday morning at a market in nearby St Cyprien. Too much wonderful food hence spent hundreds of euros on fresh fruit, vegs, meats and cheeses (we are 3 and its for the week and we are doing lots of walking!). It was a beautiful day with a top of 27C.
Today, Monday started fine but the rain soon set in and will be here for a while so we've decided to have a relaxing day- just chillin'.


Tours on way south to Limeuil





on way to Limeuil




Beynac near Limeuil



Cait reading on the window ledge of our 14th century house



one of the many beautiful chateaux in Perigord region 




me buying berries at St Cyprien market




Series of 4 chateaux somewhere in the Perigord region on way to Limeuil



Paris and beyond

Left Paris after another full day of walking and sight seeing. Had an interesting top deck bus tour of the city, there are some truely beautiful areas of the city but I would not like to be Poor in Paris! Picked up our lease car and set off south. Spent an hour doing a tree top adventure course (I only did the babies one, scared of heights). Spent the night at Tours and will be setting off for our none week stay in Limeuil.

Us at the top of La Tour Eiffel. Amazing structure and views.

Happy chappy at La Notre Dame. Again amazing! Love the surrounding area. I now know where I want to live and shop!

Yeah! the eiffel Tower!



Under the arc of L'Arc de Triomphe. Interesting monument to have in the middle of a round-a-bout.






Pompidou Center




Andrew and I Rue de Rivoli




Culture vultures taking a break in the Louvre

 Contrary to stereotype the Parisians have been friendly and helpful and the service is fantastic. After dark the population (and mopeds) seem to double and the place is jumping! We are staying in an area called 'The Opera' near the Opera House. Lots af cinemas, shops, shops and more shops and eatery every second bussiness. Smoking is a national pass-time and people take pride in their appearance and scarves are THE fashion accessory for both men and women.
Just loving it!!

On coming traffic Rue de Rivoli entering near the Louvre

Paris, France...

We hit the ground running on Tuesday and spent the day walking around the streets near our hotel and getting lost. Paris is an amazing place, lots of cars, mopeds and gorgeous men (and women). Traffic is crazy and there is no such thing as give way to pedestrians, even on the footpaths as mopeds race along them.
Yesterday was spent at some museums. very interesting but the Louvre become over whelming after a few hours. Walked so much got blisters on my feet! The bulidings are incredible, the street scapes beautiful (if you turn a blind eye to all the rubbish).