Paris to Annecy

We are now Day 3 on our European adventure. After a long flight on the red eye from Calgary with very little sleep we picked up our rental car and headed out of Paris.

With a few struggles relearning how to drive on our little standard fiat 500 we headed for our first stop in Auxerre. A Very picturesque little village along our route to Annecy. We were all asleep by 8:00pm and learned that France has the tiniest coffees ever. Definitely not enough to satisfy my caffeine addiction!

After waking up at 4:00am (due to our early bedtime) we tried to stay in bed til at least 5 Todd and Siena hit the early morning streets to find more tiny coffees. We were on the road again heading to Annecy.

During our 4 hour drive we came to appreciate French rest areas and stopped for several more tiny coffees along the way. It was a mostly uneventful drive (except for the part with the squatting public toilet and the rushing flush of water that cascaded over my feet mid stream) and we arrived in Annecy mostly unscathed.

And here we are now, sitting in our little apartment smack in the middle of the old town. We’ve done our exploring and we’re exhausted once more. Very pretty village but very busy and full of tourists. We have 3 nights here now so we will explore more tomorrow and maybe take a side trip to Geneva.

Bon soir!

Annecy

Spent 3 days in Annecy. Very busy touristy town. Beautiful lake in the Alps. Our apartment was right in the centre of the old town. Lots of gelato and authentic Swiss fondue. Very hot and no air conditioning for us. Made a daily trip to the lake to rent a paddle boat so we could swim. That was probably the highlight for Siena!

Orange

After a relatively uneventful drive we arrived in Orange Tuesday afternoon in 38c heat. Fortunately this time we had air conditioning in our little room. Despite the heat, we decided to tour the town and visit the Roman theatre. It is the best preserved Roman theatre of the western Roman Empire and is a unesco world heritage site. Ended the day with a visit to a lovely French restaurant in a cave with an amazing wine cellar.

Orange to Nice and the Tour de France

What should have been a 3 hour drive turned into about 6 hours yesterday as we left Orange and tried heading to Nice. Thought we’d try a nice French country road for a bit and ended up being blocked at the start of a Tour de France parade. C’est la vie! We parked the car and decided to join the fun for a bit. Even got a little swag (and some packages of laundry soap and mayonnaise) thrown at us 😂

Nice

After a late morning sleeping in and lazing around we finally made it out into Nice. We had a lovely loft apartment with a terrace and a washing machine for our clothes. We ventured out into this very bustling touristy city. Lots of people from all over Europe vacationing here. Had a couple swims in the Mediterranean Sea. Water was so warm and salty that it almost wasn’t refreshing enough to beat the heat! Rented some segways for a tour which was a lot of fun. Siena even managed to run over a teenage boy (he walked into her). Very nice here but a little too busy for me! Off to Genoa Italy 🇮🇹 today by train.

Genoa (Genova)

Yesterday we traveled 3 hours by train from Nice to Genoa Italy. Very large port city with a cruise ship terminal. However despite the size, it still had all the charm of Italy. Small bustling side streets where locals and tourists meet. We wandered a bit and found the world champion pesto restaurant. Delicious and cheap! 43 euros for 3 pasta dinners, a bottle of wine and tiramisu for dessert! Yum! Ended the night with a lovely rendition of bohemian rhapsody performed by a string trio. Only in Italy!

Genoa to Pisa to Siena

Today we traveled via train to Siena stopping for lunch and a break to see the famous tower. We arrived late afternoon in a thunder/lightening storm to Siena. Finally Siena will be able to get stuff with her name spelled correctly!

3 Days in Siena

Well it’s been a few days since I last wrote. We left Siena this morning but had a wonderful time. We visited the city for 2 days and yesterday had a tour of the Tuscan countryside where Siena participated in her first wine 🍷 tour. We stopped them from giving her grappa though.....a little too much like drinking moonshine from Quadra. Lots of culture and history in this town. Siena and Florence were great enemies and battled multiple times throughout history. Also a very interesting horse race every year with various families called the Paleo. It is a very big thing here and the locals take it extremely seriously. 13 families represented by various animals. No rules apply! Lots of pictures to look at.

Pompeii

Pompeii was an ancient Roman city near modern Naples in the Campania region of Italy along with Herculaneum and many villas in the surrounding area was buried under 4 to 6 m of volcanic ash and pumice in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79. Volcanic ash typically buried inhabitants who did not escape the lethal effects of the earthquake and eruption.

Largely preserved under the ash, the excavated city offers a unique snapshot of Roman life, frozen at the moment it was buried providing an extraordinarily detailed insight into the everyday life of its inhabitants.

A little history of Pompeii for you. It was amazing and like stepping back in time.

Capri and Vico Equense (Amalfi)

Just spent 2 lovely days in Vico Equense just south of Naples. Italy is so vibrant and full of life! Traffic is crazy, food is amazing. Definitely need to come back here again and spend more time in one place! We spent one full day touring Pompeii and yesterday a boat tour of Capri with swimming and snorkeling.

Capri is definitely an island for the rich and famous! Huge yachts surround the island and stores like Prada and Chanel rule the streets. Not much shopping for us here!

Our town of Vico Equense is small and scenic. It’s high on a cliff top and you have to take an elevator down to the beach to swim. Much quieter here than Sorrento would have been! Our host Teresa has been amazing here. She booked our tours for us and brought us treats from a local bakery. We would love to stay longer.

Off to Rome today! Our Greek cruise starts tomorrow.

Rome in a day (part 1)

After a fun train adventure on the Circumvesuviana and connecting train from Naples to Rome we finally arrived! Had a quick whirlwind tour of Rome in the evening/afternoon and headed to bed to get ready for our Greek cruise starting tomorrow.

Cruising

Headed out to sea today from Civitavecchia. Passed through the boot of Italy thru the island of Sicily. Time to relax after walking ever day for the last 2 weeks.

Cruising thru Greece

Santorini

After cruising for a full day we arrived in Santorini. Beautiful white washed buildings with blue roofs just like the postcards. After a long stinky trek up the donkey trail we made it to the top. Too long of a line going up the tram with everyone else from the cruise. Only 2 ways up. Tram or donkey trail! Beautiful when you get up though!

Cruising thru Greece

Mykonos

A lot more relaxing in Mykonos today. Tried to get away from the cruise ship crowd today and jumped on public transit to head to the beach. Beautiful blue water, beached whale and comfy chairs. What more could you ask for?

Cruising thru Greece

Athens

For our day in Athens we decided to book a tour. Athens is a very large, very hot city and an hour drive in from the cruise ship terminal. Lots of history and must see sites, but I would say that now I’ve seen them there is no need to go back. With the crowds and the heat (37c) it could potentially push you to your limits. The tour was great though as it allowed us to by pass the long lines and helped limit the crowds for us.

Cruising thru Greece

Katakolon

Our final stop on our tour thru Greece. This has probably been my favourite stop so far. Probably because less cruise ships have docked here and it’s lush and green like home. Still really hot but way more bearable with less people.

For our day we opted to jump on a local train and head to Olympia, the site of the very first Olympic Games. Really amazing ruins that I don’t think get the crowds of Athens. Probably a good thing!

Full day at sea tomorrow and back to Rome.

Back to Rome

The cruise is done. We’ve had a very busy day and a half now touring in Rome. It’s extremely hot and busy here though it’s still very beautiful and there’s a lot to see. We visited the coliseum and then used a Rick Steves walking tour as we viewed the city yesterday. Today was a visit to the Vatican to view Michael Angelo’s famous ceiling. Had a lovely dinner at Alfredo’s, the home of the original fettuccine Alfredo.

Lots to see and do and not enough time to do it! Tomorrow we’re back to Paris for a couple days and then home 😢

One day in Paris

We arrived in Paris last night to our final hotel. The temperatures are much more manageable now as it seems the heat wave is finally over. 23c is much easier to take than the average 35c we’ve had most of our trip.

So for our sight seeing of Paris we opted for a Fat Tire bike tour. This was a very fun way to see the city and though we didn’t go into any of the famous attractions, we rode our bikes and viewed everything from the outside. It was nice not to join all the crowds this time! We had a lovely lunch and then ended the day with a little back to school shopping.

Tomorrow Disney as promised for our last day.

One day and 30K steps in Disneyland Paris

As promised, we woke up bright and early this morning to catch the hotel shuttle to Disney for the final day of our trip. A lot of it was very similar to the other parks in the US but there were a few European differences. We spent the day from 9am - 11pm going back and forth between Disneyland and Disney Hollywood studios. We rode old favourites like the Tower of Terror and Pirates of the Caribbean and new ones like ratatouille. Fun was had by all but we were all very tired at the end. A fun way to end our 3 country tour of Europe. It’s been a blast!