Today has been a very BIG day or us in and around Paris - and we are all knackered. I’m sitting at the small kitchen table in our apartment - my back to the open window to catch the breeze. Today has been substantially cooler than any day we have encountered on our trip so far - about 28c max with most of the morning and afternoon around 18-25c - which made it actually quite pleasant for the amount of walking we ended up doing. It just wouldn’t have been possible on a hotter day. ...

This morning we were up early - but not as early as previous travel days - 6:30am is manageable. We have taxis booked to take us to the TGV train station so we can catch the TGV fast train to Paris - 1st class. Aix-en-Provence has been great, and the 3 nights we have had here have been really relaxing - even Archie let us sleep in until 8am on on occasion, which was a welcome treat. ...

It’s been good to be back in one place for a few days. It’s still warm, but a lot cooler than where we have been in Italy - which makes getting out during the day a lot more manageable - especially for Archie our 18-month-old. Aix-en-Provence is a beautiful old city - two main grand carriage ways (streets) with many, many cobble stone lined streets leading off them in all directions. It’s very easy to get tangled - but also easy to get your way back to the main streets if you need to. ...

Back in Rome We arrived back into Rome on Wednesday evening (29th July) in reasonable time after having left San Lupo in the early afternoon - immediately after the main mass and precession of the statue of San Lupo through the streets. It was good to have made it back to San Lupo again, although not a lot looks to have changed since our last visit in 2008 - but its beautiful during the festival with all the lights lining the streets at night. ...

Saturday we packed up and checked out of the villa. It was sad to leave as its been an absolutely great time and very relaxing, but everything must come to an end and we must move on to our next destination - Alberobello. Alberobello is in the south east of Italy, not far from Bari - but it’s roughly 750km from where we currently are in Siena, which will make for a long days driving. Furthermore we need to swing by Rome airport to pickup Maddie (Laura’s sister) who will be joining the travelling group for a few weeks. ...

On Friday (24th July) we set out early and took a road trip to San Gimignano - about an hour or so away from where we were staying at the villa. San Gimignano is a medieval hill top fortified city and is renowned for its many towers - everywhere you look there are more. While San Gimignano is one of the smaller towns we have visited, it is by far one of the more beautiful. The medieval architecture combined with towers in every direction makes for post-card photos everywhere you look. ...

So… We have been without Internet access for a few days, and the blog posts have been limited as a result of this. I have a lot to catch up on and as Internet access becomes available - and I have time - new blog posts will begin to show up. Today (Thursday 23rd July) was a bit of a lay-day - we hung out at the villa and swam to keep cool. After lunch (and siesta) we decided to check out a local winery, Tenuta di Trecciano, which is about 5km down the road for some tastings. ...

Today we jumped in the cars and ventured out to Assisi for a day trip - roughly 120km from where we are staying. Assisi is the home of many Saints, but probably most prominent was Saint Francis, the founder of the Franciscan order and was named as one of the two patron Saints of Italy (along with Saint Catherine of Siena). We decided to head out early to try and avoid as much of the heat of the day as we could. The drive to Assisi was reasonably straightforward - at least compared to some of our recent outings and the routes selected by our TomTom. ...

We arranged with Franco, the owner of the villa, to prepare us a traditional Tuscan feast (an option available to anyone staying at the villa) on Tuesday evening. We all wanted to celebrate arriving in Tuscany and to mark the start of our holiday, but Tuesday was also Mum’s birthday - and what better excuse to kick back, relax and enjoy some awesome Tuscan food and wine together. In the early afternoon the chefs and other staff arrived to start preparing the evening meal. The long table on the lawn was set, along with a large accompanying table which would hold all the food for the evening meal. ...

Today we decided to venture out to nearby Siena for the evening - its too hot (38-40c) to be out and about with the kids during the heat of the day, and for us the time is much better spent cooling off and relaxing by the pool. From our villa, Siena is roughly a 20km drive - initially through scenic hills which make for some exciting driving with blind hair-pin corners, narrow stone wall lined roads and stretches of tree lined avenues. Winding down from the hills takes us through a number of small townships and into a valley with paddocks full of sunflowers and others with freshly cut hay. ...