France

Today has been much hotter than yesterday - about 34c - and after the big day we had yesterday we decided to take it a little easier and just hit a few of the sights - with the Eiffel Tower the first on the list. We headed off reasonably early from the apartment (while it was still cool) and headed across the river, past Notre Dame, and then onto the train station we thought would take us straight to the Eiffel Tower - unfortunately that part of the line (and the station) are closed for works… there go those plans and our early start. ...

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. ...