Amsterdam - 12 - 18 October

We flew from Nice to Amsterdam.  Crazy crazy city, bikes everywhere, Coffee Shops and the smell of weed everywhere, girls in windows in the red light district.  What a diverse city.  It felt like unorganised kaos everywhere.  Did a bike tour on the day they had their entire October rainfall in just that day.  4 layers of clothing soaked.  Welcome to Amsterdam they said!  Apart from the weather we had a great time.  Visited the Van Gough Museum, Anne Franks House, Madam Tussauds, Heiniken Factory, Ruks Museum,  Dimond museum, a day in the countryside where we visited Markem, Volendam and the windmills at Zaanes schans, a canal cruise and a interesting Coffee shop walking tour.

l

Nice - Cote D'Azure - South of France - 5 - 12 October

Had a week in Nice to recover and plan the next stages of our trip.  Very quite with just the two of us again.  Stayed in an apartment right on the Promenade des Anglais which we walked along every morning.  Still great weather in the early 20 s, people in swimming and laying around on the beach.  Visited Grasse and viewed the perfume factory, a quaint wee town about 1 hour on the train from Nice.  Had an afternoon in Eze a medievaltown on a craggy peak with the most amazing views.

villefranche - Cote D'Azur - South of France- 28 September - 5 October

Flew from Paris to Nice and then bused to Villefranche, a beautiful small fishing village with the most delicious restaurantsright on the waters edge.  Had a beautiful villa overlooking the water and in the old town.  Watched the rich and famous come in on their super yachts, their helicopters on the back of the boat  Oh how the other halft live!! Visited Monte Carlo, Nice and Cannes by train, laid on the beach, not quite like ours and relaxed.

:

Paris. 21- 28 September

Caught the Eurostar from London to Paris for the big birthday week and to see Roger Waters doing his last ever concert of The Wall.  Fantastic concert, you had to b e there!

A very busy week was had in Paris, rented a beaut apartment just off the Champs Elysee, climbed the Eiffel Tower, biked 18 ks on Blue bike tours, strolled the Champs Elysee many times, climbed the Arc de Triomphe, visited the Sacre couer,  checked out the Mona Lisa in the Louvre, had a fun day at Disneyland, a brilliant dinner and show at Moulin Rouge, visited the Catacombes, the underground tunnells which held 6 million skeletons 110 steps undergrond and had a lovely dinner cruise on the Seine river

c

g

Ireland. 9 - 16 September 2013

Goodbye sunshine hello rain.  Welcome to Ireland!! Great time was had in the Irish pubs in Dublin with Jamie. Visited the Guiness Factory, Jamesons whiskey, the Temple bar area, Christchurch Cathedral.  Drove to Galway on the west coast, down to Doolan to see the Cliffs of Moher, however bad weather made us miss this attraction, but what a great night in the local pub, drove around the Dingle Peninsula, kissed the Blarney stone beautiful castle and grounds, visited Cork, Douglas, Waterford, Cobh which was the last port the Titanic visited and back to Dublin. Easy driving, english spoken, great hospitality, quaint wee villages and very cool pubs made up for thie wet week.

Portugal - Lisbon - 6 - 9 September

Arrived in Lisbon by bus and once again our hotel was in the old part of town. We enjoyed just wandering around the streets.  Had great views of Lisbon from the Castle of Sao Jorge and Alfama .  Took the train along the coast to Cascais for the day and dined at one of the best restaurants yet.

Portugal - Luz - 2 -6 September

Loved the wee town of Luz.  From here we hired a car and travelled down to Sagres and up the west coast of Portugal.  Stunning views and the most beautiful untouched beaches so far.