Another early start to the morning, breakfaast, packed and out of the hotel by 9.00am. The drive from Rapollo to Tuscany was about 3 hours on the super smooth autostradas. Again the drive was fast through tunnels and big bridges over valleys. We had to drive up a bumpy dirt road to get to our villa. It was set among vines and olive trees. The countryside is green and bushy and there are villas scatered around the hills. Very picturesque. We arrived at the ...

After a yummy breakfast with fantastic views across the Rapollo Bay, we caught a ferry to Portofino via Santa Margherita. WOW! Santa Margherita was pretty - hillside homes scattered among the trees ... very prettty. We stayed on the ferry, picked up more tourist groups and travelled on to Portofino. OMG! Portofino was just gorgeous - a tiny little bay with pretty coloured homes surrounding the multi-million dollars worth of yachts and boats in the water! The ...

An early start to the day as we have to go to the airport to pick up our hire car. Our taxi driver is a lovely guy, who, we learn, loves to surf, snowboard and was a soccer player in the 4th division of the Paris national league. Our car is a lovely new Peugeot - very roomy and brand new - nice! Today we are driving from Paris to the Italian Riviera town of Rapolloa - east of Genoa. It's a huge drive. We plan to stop in a town called Chambery in foothills of ...

We finally arrived in Paris after what seemed to be an endless flight! It took around 22 hours flying time. Our hotel, Hotel Montanna, is in a fantastic location near Rue de Rivoli which runs alongside the Tuileries Gardens and is walking distance to the Louvre museum. The rooms are lovely, clean and, by Parisian standards, large. We're all excited to be here and quickly unpack and then head out exploring. We wander the streets around our hotel. find a littl...