We caught a train from Vernazza to La Spezia where we changed trains to Pisa (no, we didn't see the Leaning Tower) and then changed trains again at Pisa to get to Florence where we changed trains yet again to Camucia near Cortona. Let me say now, none of this would have been possible without Hayley's careful planning of this leg of the journey (train and platform numbers as well as departure times) and the knowledge she has gained in using the rail system since s...

As we couldn't move our gear into "the room without a view" until the afternoon we decided to explore the hill behind Vernazza which appeared to have a church and a cemetery on the top of it…though this meant yet another very steep walk. We stopped about half way to take photos of Vernazza below and read for a while, then it was onwards and upwards. I guess living on the side of a mountain has its drawbacks and amongst them would be there is very little flat l...

Leisurely - my @#$%, five hours - #%&!! I thought the stairs to our room were bad...they were nothing compared to the walk we did today. I have never undertaken such an arduous task before and hope never to again. Now, after my little whinge, let me say it was worth the agony of my muscles screaming "No more, I can't take another step!" for the incredible views from the top of the mountains that separate Monterosso and Vernazza, and Vernazza and Corniglia. I...

Emile was to have called me a taxi at 4:30am to take me to catch the shuttle bus to Beauvais airport, one and a quarter hours from Paris, but when he couldn't get a response I decided I'd better walk up to the taxi rank a block away...I was a little nervous at this prospect but was pleasantly surprised at how many partying people were around at that early hour of the morning. There were about one hundred and forty of us waiting for the shuttle bus and the funnie...

Today I had the most enjoyable day of my stay in France…I left Paris. I really wanted to see some of the French countryside and as I hadn't done my CouchSurf in the Loire Valley I decided to jump on a train and head out. My tour organiser (Hayley) had suggested Giverny, the village where Claude Monet lived and painted. The seventy five kilometre trip to the town of Vernon took forty five minutes by train and once we were out of the city and in the country the ...