'To blend in with the Parisians wear layers of clothing, preferably in black, with a scarf, and try to show no emotion on your face'... Interesting guidebook advice! It took us about two and a half hours to make our way by train from romantic Bruges to the city of love. The cost of the train tickets had stung (180 euros), but as we rocketed through the flat Belgian landscape on our high speed train I forgot the spent euros and began to get excited about what la...

Rental car safely returned, we embarked on the train to Nice in high spirits. Little did we know what lay in store for us... Somehow we ended up seated behind a family of five on their way to a seaside holiday. Across the aisle from them sat another small child travelling with his mother. Add to the mix a three hour delay stopped in the middle of nowhere and you have the recipe for a cruel form of punishment. Initially the kids seemed kind of cute and Dale...

"Dale, where's my backpack?" ... That sinking feeling as you are standing on a train platform and realise you have done something stupid. Fortunately for us the train to Avignon was running 40 minutes late, so we had time to retrieve the forgotten backpack from where I had left it at the hotel. But not a great start to the day...My bad! In Avignon we picked up our rental car - not the super chic European car I was hoping for but a Ford Fiesta - and Dale had to ...

We arrived in Nimes early Sunday afternoon. Our hotel was just a short walk from the train station, but the hot weather and failing suitcase made it seem longer (my suitcase handle is refusing to extend, so now poor Dale is dragging it around almost bent double as it is too heavy for me to pull). After dumping the cumbersome bags in our surprisingly spacious room, we set out to check out the sights. Walking around near deserted streets, it wasn't long until...

It was somewhat surreal arriving in the quaint historic centre of Toulouse in time to catch the end of a Gay Pride parade. The rainbow flag was flying everywhere and there was a carnival atmosphere in the main square as music blared from tents set up in the square. Gay men, lesbians, and heterosexuals leaned on placards chatting together, many of them were wearing fancy dress (we saw a flock of angels, a pack of devils and some cancan girls). After the depriva...