Well here we are back in London to catch our breath........off to Leeds tomorrow for the cricket (hopefully we make it to the fourth day) then on to York.

Here is a little snapshot of our trip.....

Day 1 we caught the Eurostar to Brussels and joined the coach tour there, we had an evening sighteeing tour then had to get some dinner, we finally found a cafe that had pictures.....then we could not go past the waffles.....we will start the diet when we get home!!!!

Day 2 On the bus to Lucerne stopping at Luxembourg for lunch arriving late afternoon, another evening sightseeing tour finishing with Dinner and Swiss style entertainment.

Day 3 started with a cruise on Lake Lucerne and then some free time & lunch then back on the bus stoping at Liechenstein on route to Innsbruck, Austria. The scenery is absolutely magnificent. We managed to squeeze a visit into the Swarovski showrooms where we drooled and spent a bit on souveniers.

Day 4 and we are getting used to these early starts (not) and back onto the bus driving over the Europa Bridge and onto Venice. Visit to the Murano Glass factory and you can't go to Venice and not have a Gondola ride can you.......a bit of free time to shop then onto our Hotel for dinner. It was very hot so we fell into bed as of course we had another early start.

Day 5 and of course another early start as we are off to Rome via Assisi. It is going to be mid 30's again today.....did a tour of the Basiica in Assisi, was quite a climb to get up there from the bus park but it was worth it.....back onto the bus driving thru Tuscany to Rome. Another evening sightseeing tour to the Parthenon and Trevilly fountain, then dinner at a lovely restaraunt. Vivienne's ankles a little swollen.

Day 6 Early start with a visit to the Vatican City @ 8am. The Museum and the Sistine Chapel were both spectacular, pinching ourselves again. Back onto the bus and onto the Roman Forum and the Colesseum, amazing. It is extremely hot today to back to the hotel for a break then onto the Castel Gandolfo (Pope's summer home) in the evening and lovely little tavern for some dinner.

Day 7 Back onto the bus (we are both over the bus now!!) and onto Florence where we visited a leather shop, beautiful but expensive. We had a free afternoon opting out of the sightseeing tour as hot and Vivienne's ankles still swollen. We had a bit of lunch and the a mooch around finding little squares and statues (David included) it is very touristy, lots of people. After a rest at our hotel we then went for dinner at a restaraunt in the Tuscany hills, lovely scenery.

Day 8 back onto the bus for another early start onto Cannes in the French Riviera, it is very hot again and it is the first Saturday of August when all the italians and french go on holidays so it was a long slow trip. We called in at Pisa on the way for a break and a look around the Square of Miracles and the Tower. In the evening we went to Monaco and had dinner in Monte Carlo......we even squeezed in a visit to the Casino, the lifts and escalators were off limits for some reason so we had to walk the whole way up.....that evening Vivienne's whole legs were swollen, too hot and too much walking.

Day 9 and as it is Sunday we had a break from the early starts not leaving until 10.30....back on the bus to Lyon calling in at Grasse and a visit to a Perfumery, very interesting. Arrived in Lyon around 6.30 and got a suprise to find somebody already asleep in our alotted room, off to another room only to have visitors at around 9.30 when they were given the keys to our room.....to say we were not amused was an understatement.

Day 10 off to Paris today stopping at Beaune on the way, quaint little village was a nice break. Arrived in Paris after lunch with a free afteroon, we wandered around Tivoli Gardens and did some souvenier shopping before finding our hotel, we also had to find our own dinner which was interesting.

Day 11 Early start for some sightseeing first stop the Notre Dam (another church, they are all starting to blur into one now) of course it was magnificent and the history is interesting, then on to the Eiffel Tower and it is big and so were the crowds, we managed to take a few photos and then off into town again for another free afternoon, then onto Montmarte (where the artists are).

We had our farewell dinner in a lovely restaraunt but didn't try the snails or the frogs legs......I can hear you........chickens I know.

Day 12.....no early start for us as we do not need to leave until 11.00 to catch the Eurostar, well we both had a wonderful time but will be glad to get back to our home away from home. I has been an amazing 12 days.