London is great mate!

London has been so incredible! We got to spend some real time here, and we were staying with our friend Kieran who was the best tour guide ever! We started downtown with a nice driving tour of the major hot spots, Buckingham Palace, Hyde Park, Parliament and Downing Street, the theatre district, Chinatown and the new olympic venues they are building for 2012. The next day we walked all over London and climbed MANY steps (I was still recovering from the Eiffel Tower!) starting with The Monument, the tallest free standing column! Then we waltzed over to St Peters Cathedral, totally gorgeous to walk up another million steps! I'm fine now... We went on a great river cruise to see London from the water and then went into the O2 Arena for drinks and finally back to Kieran's for some R&R.

The weather had been perfect, but when we got up the next day it was looking very threatening and by the time Keely and I got to the station to catch the train to town...we were soaked! Kieran had to work and we were on our own this day but we made it to downtown on the train and the Tube and ended up going to see Pirates and then got great seats to The Lion King at an old, beautiful theater on the Strand. It was absolutely wonderful and we both loved it. Also shopped in Covent Garden for a bit (it's covered!)

Of course...we had to go "clubbing" in London and so Kieran and his friend Mark took us out...We had a great time...I am told :)

When we got our entertaining tour guide back, he took us to Hampton Court, King Henry the VIII's "love shack". It was so beautiful. You will see me and Keely in one of the rooms and also with some guys who were part of a reenactment they were doing that day. It really is just a "lovely" place, as the British say.

Keely and I took our last day and went back into town and saw the Tower of London, the oldest palace in England and the Tower Bridge, which you can see here. The bridge just happened to be going up when we were standing on it! Only happens a couple times a day, we are told.

London was so fun and it's a fabulous city with so much to do and see and it's so clean and safe. We had a ball and Kieran made us feel so welcome and was just the best host ever! Thanks Kieran!!!! Cheers!

Paris in the spring time!

Paris is amazing and beautiful! We stayed in the cutest little apartment in a great area near Notre Dame. It was nice to have our own space and be a part of the Paris day to day... Our apartment was adjacent to a great pedestrian walkway that was filled with little cafes, fromage(cheese)shops, wine shops, fruit shops. The Parisians buy their food each day, fresh. We stocked up on the essentials and had the best stuff for our breakfasts and snacks each day.

The Eiffel Tower was magnificent, as you can see in Keely's brilliant photo. We also had a great shot taken at the top of the two of us. We were really inspired by it's grandeur and size. Had a nice 6oo step walk up to the second level that was "a piece of cake" after Notre Dame and the Arc de Triomphe...NOT!

Speaking of Notre Dame...Crazy! We walked up to the top of that and the view was amazing, the gargoyles were great and we just really loved it with all it's history and glory.

We saw so much in Paris that we just couldn't put all the photos on but we loved the Louvre, L'Orangerie Museum(with Monet's incredible Lillies series), Napoleons Tomb, the Champs Elysees and the most incredible palace, Versailles. We missed a few things but that leaves something to come and see when we return...because we have to go back to Paris!

Computer bump in the road...

Hi to our loyal followers! We have been having tons of fun and have now been to Paris and London, however....the computer is out of batteries and we have yet to find the appropriate converter. We hope to find one in the next day or so and then we will be sending some great pictures from Paris and London.

We leave for Scotland today and are so excited!

Just wanted to give you a quick update from my friend's computer here in London and we will be back in touch soon!

Peaceful Provence

We arrived at our beautiful french farmhouse and were so happy to see this gorgeous, quiet place. Our room was so nice and had a giant bathtub!!! I have truly found my french love...that tub! We made good use of it after long days of wandering Provence.

We rented a car and needless to say had some difficulty with the roads and those pesky roundabouts! :( I am going to start a coalition to ban all roundabouts! Luckily our hosts took pity on us and lent us their GPS and boy was that the greatest thing. I love that girl! I am going to either rent or buy one for Scotland and Ireland. It makes the day so much less stressful!

Ok, so we got the GPS and got on the road to see the little hilltop towns all over Provence and here are a few that we visited. The orange one is Rousillon which is my favorite...you all know I love orange! Then there is Lacoste which is all light colored stone and very quaint. We met this funny Irish gentleman there, who had written a book called "Two suitcases and a dog" about how he ended up in Lacoste. and we ended up getting his book, signed too! He was a character and his book was hysterical. The last picture is me and Keely in Les Beux which is supposed to be one of the oldest.

We went into the Camarge one day, the area near the sea that has a wetlands, and saw the famous black bulls and white horses and also went into the Bird Park and were amazed to see hundreds of pink flamingos! It really was something to see.

Finally we found this little ancient village of "Bouries", little rock huts. They built these huts with just the hammered stone, no mortar or anything holding it together. It's just the angle that the stones are set at and the perfect fit of each one. Amazing!

Altogether, Provence was a spectacular place and we thoroughly enjoyed it and our wonderful farmhouse...and our bathtub!

Nice is nice!

After a LOOOOONG day of train travel from Cinque Terre, we arrived in Nice to a "nice" rain storm. We dried off and found the nearest bistro and also found our very own piano player! He played Sting's "It's probably me" for me...Sweet! We became best friends :)

The rain continued, along with some very loud thunder and lightning, the next day as we explored Monaco. Even in the pouring rain it's a very beautiful city. They were getting ready for the Grand Prix and we got to see the course first hand!

We ended up back in Nice and found the city to be very pretty and the beaches, although all rocks, were really beautiful too. The water is a light turquoise, almost like the water in the Caribbean. Wish we had more time to take a dip...but on to Provence!

Cinque Terre...Steep!

First injury of the trip...Keely "tripped" (actually slid)on the steep streets of Manarola. This is a steep little town!

We had to lug our suitcases up a VERY STEEP street to the top of the hill, but it was worth it when we got there. Our little guest house was beautiful and had an amazing view with a great deck overlooking the entire (tiny!) bay. After a few hours of walking all around the town, we were ready for a rest with a view on the deck and a glass of wine...the usual!

The town grows grapes, olives and lemons on these steep slopes and it's really quite an amazing thing to see. Great seafood too!

Lake Como...Gorgeous!

Lake Como is one of our favorite spots so far...relaxing and beautiful. No wonder George Clooney has a place here! Our hotel was right on the lake with a great little restaurant and sun deck. After the busy Rome and Venice, we were so happy to just sit on the deck and sun, eat and relax. Our room had a nice lake view and we basically just lounged on the deck all day.

Just a note...driving on the tiny one lane road around the lake from the Como train station to our hotel was enough to cause an anxiety attack! So we needed a little R & R after that!