Crusing the Rhone River, Avignon

We left Monte Carlo and bussed to Nice for a quick lunch break before meeting the Swiss Emerald, our river boat, at Arles. The internet connection on the boat was a satalite connection and very slow, so we have waited until we were in Paris to work on the blog. The first stop out of Arles was to Avignon and the Cellars of Chateau Nuf du Pap. This old winery has been in existance since the Roman times and produces both Chardonney and Granache wines. Pictured are a unique double decker ferris wheel in Avignon, Georgia and I at Chateau Nuf du Pap, the winery wine cave, the cave store, and a stone wine vat from the Roman times.

Monte Carlo

We left Bellagio and Lake Como and drove through the senic mountains to Monte Carlo. The trip took us over the mountains along the east fork of the lake towards Milan. From Milan we drove to the Mediterrian sea and the French border. We arrived in Monte Carlo to see them setting up for the Monte Carlo Grand Prix, which is next weekend. We have seen every high end car made in the world in the last 24 hours, bar none. Many of the drivers are running around the streets, gearing down just like they are racing. Pictured are Georgia at one of the senic outlooks looking at the eastern fork of Lake Como, a Mediterrian villege near the French border where we had lunch, the welcome signs in Monte Carlo, some of the preparations for the Grand Prix, and Georgia by next years' (plural) Christmas, birthday, and every other occasion desired gift. The price tag is about $316,000.

Last Day at lake Como

Our last day at Lake Como was spent relaxing and getting some exercise. My brother, David, and I decided to hike up to the Church of San Martino. The church is located on the western side of Lake Como about 1,800 feet above the Lake. It took us about an hour to hike up to the church, but the views were worth it. On the way we took several wrong turns; and instead of going directly to the church, we went through several farms on old paths being greeted by the cows that thought we had come to feed them and do some milking. Pictured are: Church of San Martino, Bellagio as seen from the church, David and I at the church, a view up to the church from the lake, and Georgia and Debbie at lunch.

On Lake Como

On our second day at Bellagio, we went on a boat tour of the lake and the nearby communities. We toured the Bellagio water front, crossed the lake to Verenna, and then south to the Villa Balbianello. All of this was before we stopped at the only island in the lake where there is a restaurant named "Isola Comacina". At the restaurant we had a six course lunch followed with coffee drink. One of the courses was a cheese course where the Parmasan Romano was cut from a 40 pound cheese wheel. Pictured are the Bellagio waterfront, Verenna waterfront, the lovely Villa Balbianello, all four of us at the Villa Balbianello, and finally the chese course at lunch,served on a knife.

Bellagio, Lake Como, Day One

From Cinque Terra, we traveled to beautiful Lake Como, where we stayed in Bellagio. Here we met up with my brother, David and his wife, Debbie, who had been touring other parts of Italy and Austria. Lake Como is in the form of a Y with Bellagio located at the center of the fork in the Y. Today we did a walking tour of the area and hit all of the local villeges. We had time on the tour to visit the beautiful gardens of the Villa Melzi and to have a private wine tasting at the Villa Crella. The pictures are of David, Debbie, Georgia and I with the Alps in the background, a street in Bellagio, a lakefront walkway in Bellagio, the gardens at the Villa Melzi, and our private wine tasting the Villa Crella.

Cinque Terra

After leaving Rome, we spent two lovely days in Cinque Terra. We hiked and took the train to all five villeges. One of the highlights was having lunch in a 1000 year old restaurant in Vernazza. We stayed in a lovely hotel in Monterolla with unbeleaveable views. Below are pictures of all five of the villeges.

The Vatican

On day two in Rome we visited the Vatican, which is an independent counrty, with the pope as its ruler. We can't say enough about all of the antiquities, ceiling paintings,and wall paintings in the Vatican museum, St. Peter's Basilica, and the Sistine Chapel. The ceiling paintings were very impressive. With all of the marble statues, dating back to 300 BC, we were in overload by the end of the morning. After a quick bite of lunch, we finished the afternoon enjoying the Villa Borghese museum and gardens. Pictured are a bronze fountain in the Vatican entry courtyard, one of the painted ceilings in the Vatican museum, a marble bowl in the Vatican museum, St.Peter's Basilica dome, and the entrance to St. Peter's Basilica.