Rome, part 1

We took in a lot of the sites of Rome, including the Colosseum (where Arlo reignited her habit of kissing stone, last seen in the Louvre in Paris), Trevi Fountain and Spanish Steps. We even stumbled across a Mondrian exhibition, which made Geoff a very happy man!

Cinque Terre

We spent two nights in Riomaggiore in the Cinque Terre. The stop was mainly to break up the trip between San Raphael and Rome – about an 11 hour trip all up if we were to do it in one go. Plus, we had both been here before and adore this area. We took a punt and stayed at the best guesthouse we could find on the internet, and it is one of the best places we have stayed at so far. Alla Marina Affittacamere has been recently renovated and is just fabulous. Not too many stairs from the train station, with a fabulous view of the marina.

We had a late breakfast then took a walk to the next village, Manarola, where we had lunch (more pasta and pesto for me) before strolling back to Riomaggiore. We climbed back up a bunch of stairs to watch the sun set over the water. It wasn’t as spectacular as the night we arrived (and couldn’t take pictures because we were getting off the train and walking to our accommodation at the time) but it was still lovely to sit high up over the water, sipping champagne and watching the view.

Next stop, Rome.

Frejus

Our last full day in St Raphael we went to the neighbouring town (which actually joins onto St Raphael) of Frejus. This town has many Roman ruins scattered throughout the town and we saw a lot of them. Sadly, the pictures were pretty unimpressive so I haven’t included any. But there was a bit of prettiness about the town. Hover over the picture to see the caption…!!

Monaco

While staying in San Raphael we took a day trip to Monaco. I was very keen to see this tiny country (slightly bigger than Vatican City at almost 2 square kilometres) and we set out early one morning for the train trip along the coast. Which was beautiful. Monaco was beautiful too. And I hated it. Don’t get me wrong, I loved the day out, and I’m very glad I went but I didn’t like being in a place that flaunted wealth so openly. My disgust surprised me and the only way I could describe it was to say that I felt the overt flaunting of material possessions was obscene. Perhaps it comes from living in a country (China) where people do with so little all the time and we are considered wealthy, and in Monaco we would have been so very poor. Perhaps it was all the Ferraris and BMWs. Or the boats at least ten times the size of our house. Perhaps it was all the women wearing designer everything, fresh from a botox treatment, sitting down to a champagne lunch with the other trophy wives. Perhaps it was seeing the obsession with the royal family – most streets are named after a Monaco royal person and pictures of the head prince are in so many shops. I don’t know why I was so dramatically affected by being here. I’m glad I went, and I now have no need to ever go back there. Still, here are a few pictures of the day…

Callian and Grasse

We rented a car for a day and drove to the mountains behind San Rafael. We visited Callian, a village on a hill, one that the tourist information guy said was “quite typical” (he meant unique), and Grasse – the home of perfume making. Grasse wasn’t that pretty, though the perfume factory was pretty interesting, and everyone bought themselves a treat, including Arlo, who got a fish-shaped soap!

St Tropez

I had been to St Tropez in the summer but to see it in winter was a completely different experience. Gone are the celebrities, the boats, the traffic (and most of the shops and restaurants). But then we got a chance to see the Old Town in relative peace, eat an ordinary meal – they even forgot to cook Geoff’s hamburger – and drink and overpriced cup of coffee (I guess some things in St Tropez stay the same year round). We hiked up to the citadel, but it was closed for lunch (another winter quirk) so we just wandered around, learnt how to skip stones over the water and chose which boat we’d like to sail away in.

San Raphael

After a few initial hiccups in San Raphael (accommodation issues mainly) we had a fabulous week on the French Riviera. Our relaxing week turned out to be pretty eventful, with trips to neighbouring towns, lots of fabulous food, and we made time for a little shopping and beaching.

Paris!

There have been very few written words on these blog posts lately, and that isn’t about to change any time soon. Suffice to say we’re having a blast and I’ve no time to tell you about it just now. Please be satisfied with a few (ahem) pictures from Paris.

Some big metal structure
Atop said structure
Perhaps ‘Geoffrey’ is ‘Geffroy’ in French…?
Flowers for sale on a corner
Arlo now smiles for a photo with her entire body
We skipped the 400m queue for entry into the Louvre (in the wind and rain) because we had a baby in a stroller. If this is what we can avoid then she shall remain in the stroller until she is 17.
How many of these people actually looked at the Mona Lisa with their EYES???
Worth the hype?
Venus de Milo
Arlo was more interested in kissing walls…
And running away…
And exploring parts of exhibits that others don’t ever consider.
A quiet gallery
Notre Dame Cathedral
The roof – not a hunchback in sight
Old buildings
Arlo showing off the Paris purse Nannie bought her

The rest of Switzerland

Saas Fee, Montreaux and Basel…

More pictures from Saas Fee