Monday. It's the last night of the big trip. Lorraine should be arriving home about now. We said goodbye in Paris on Sunday - she flew home and I came on to London. Paris was hot and crowded but we were both very pleased to achieve an ambition. I saw Monet's waterlilies at the Orangerie and Lorraine bought a small painting in Montmartre. Montmartre was an ordeal as the crowds were horrendous and the temperature well over 30. Thank goodness for the funicular which took us up there. I couldn't have faced those steps with the crowds and the heat. Lorraine has taken to drinking panaches (shandies) and I had a cider to revive and prepare for the painting selection. While we were looking for the right Metro line to return to our hotel, we actually walked underground to the Gare du Nord, our own station. We had thought we might go to the Moulin Rouge for a last night splurge, but it was booked out, so we settled for the number 42 bus instead. We hopped on at the Gare du Nord and it took us past the Eiffel Tower, up the Champs Elysses and to the end of the line. We then hopped off, crossed the road, and caught the same bus back about 2 minutes later. A bargain priced tour of Paris. It was sad to say goodbye to Lorraine at the airport the following day and to set off alone for London. Lorraine and I were proud that we spent so much time together for three weeks and were still talking to each other at the end. We've had a lot of laughs along the way. Arriving in London was amazing because once I was on the tube it felt very familiar. The train was very clean and the stations all looked fresh and refurbished - probably for next year's Olympics. My memory is of very shabby trains. By the time I had found my hotel and checked in I was ready for a cuppa so I put my feet up and watched a bit of telly (in English!). This morning I caught the train to Brighton, a trip of about an hour. I walked down the big hill to the Royal Pavilion, where I did a tour complete with audio guide. What a place! It is absolutely over the top - even more than I expected. I loved the huge chandelier held in the claws of a flying dragon and can understand why some guests were afraid to sit beneath it at dinner. What an extravagant, pleasure-seeking hedonist the Prince Regent was! On my return to London I called in to the Victoria and Albert Museum, where I wandered through the British collection. The fashion/costume section was being refurbished so that was a bit of a disappointment, but I enjoyed what I did see until my feet went on strike. Hot again, but not quite as bad as yesterday or as Paris. Tomorrow I fly home. I have been trying to rearrange my case to get the weight down. There are a few things being thrown out and other bits going from the case to the backpack. Hope it will be OK. Well that's it for the big tour. What a great time we've had and how lovely my own bed will be when I get home.

Friday. Today is our last Eurail day. As I write this, I am sitting on the TGV, bound for Paris. Lorraine has been checking out any empty seats, as ours are facing backwards, which makes her feel sick. She seems to have found one at the end of the carriage. Once again, the TGV is incredibly smooth, fast and quiet. If only it went all the way to Melbourne! We enjoyed our ferry trip yesterday despite the fact that it was quite misty, almost foggy. We did a three hour trip and at the halfway point most of the other passengers got off. They would have been doing the trip up and over Mt Pilatus. You go part of the way by ferry, then funicular and cable car and home on a bus. (I think) I don't think they'd have been getting much of a view because of the fog although the peak of the mountain would be well above it. I saw a picture of the building at the top and I'm sure it was used in a James Bond film. After the ferry ride Lorraine hired an electric bike and rode to the statue of the sad lion while I walked there. It is carved into the side of a hill and honours the Swiss guards who were killed trying to protect Louis XV (?) and Marie Antoinette when the Bastille was stormed. Hundreds of the Swiss guards were killed but the king and queen had already escaped to another prison. It is a beautiful monument and reminded us both of Aslan, from "The lion, the witch and the wardrobe". Lorraine then went exploring on the bike and I wandered back through the old town, doing a little shopping for Swiss chocolates on the way. We were both exhausted after yet another walk in the old town later that afternoon, so we found a cafe just across from our hotel for dinner. It was great to have a simple salad after all the big meals we've been enjoying. This morning, after checking out of the hotel, we took the last of our French cracker biscuits (from the boat) and fed them to the swans and a couple of pigeons who asked nicely. The swans are a real feature of Lucerne and there must be dozens of them on the lake around the town centre. We caught an intercity train from Lucerne to Basel and then the TGV from Basel. We saw a man who thought he'd lost his blackberry and was going through his luggage in a bit of a panic. Met him again on the platform and he told us he'd found it so we told him about how Joe lost his computer and it was handed in. Everywhere we have been we have been impressed by people's friendliness, helpfulness and welcome. I don't think we've had one negative encounter. I just looked back at my last entry and saw the bit about the bottle of wine. Lorraine plucked up her courage to taste it last night and, as expected, it was foul. It went straight down the sink - and good riddance! One less thing to carry. We definitely have to pack lighter in future, and refrain from buying things. Our cases are unaccountably heavier than they were and I am trying to decide what can be thrown out before I go home. The weather forecast for both Paris and London is hot so it looks like the coat will not be needed after all. I didn't think I had bought much but the case is definitely getting harder to close. There will have to be some rearranging. That'll do for now. I'll try to put this on the blog when we get to Paris.

Wednesday. We have now arrived in Lucerne. We travelled from Varenna to Como by ferry - a very pleasant experience. Como is not nearly as steep as Varenna so the walk to the station wasn't too gruelling. We got here about five and went for a stroll across the famous Chapel Bridge and through the old town. We did the tourist thing and found a fondue restaurant for dinner. Tasty, but pricey. But we know that everything is dear in Switzerland, so what the heck! Yesterday we had our cooking day. It was a lot of fun and the chef was very entertaining, with a wealth of jokes and stories. He mostly demonstrated but we were encouraged to come up and learn to fold tortellini. He made very creamy scalloped potatoes, involtini and ricotta, sage and lemon verbena tortellini, giving us directions, tips and quantities for four. Il Caminetto, his restaurant, was not in Varenna, but they picked us up from outside our hotel and drove us up a very steep, narrow, windy road to their tiny village. More stunning views across the lake. The food we ate was great and quite reproducible I think. Of the 16 people who attended, 12 were Australians and 4 were Yanks. At the moment I am sitting next to a smelly old bottle of wine that was given to Smith by a couple who were at Moneglia. It is a 1969 Montefioralle chianti classico. Do you you think they gave it to her because they knew it would be sensational? No, nor do I. The bottles had been found in an old cellar and the owner gave a number of bottles to his Aussie guests, who kindly (?!) shared it with Smith. She has now taken the crumbly cork out and is letting it breathe. I hope it doesn't poison her! Tomorrow we plan to spend the morning on a ferry ride around part of the lake. The weather is still amazing. We are so lucky.

Monday. It's hard to believe that the big gathering has come to an end and we are all off on our travels again. On Saturday Lorraine and I went to Portofino - train to Santa Margherita and ferry from there to Portofino. Thank goodness we took the ferry because it was a lot further than we thought and pretty darned hot in the midday sun. Portofino was certainly more up-market than the other towns we've visited. There was a cruise ship in and lots of very expensive boats moored around the tiny harbour. On our return to Santa Margherita we found a nice little waterfront cafe where we simply had to have a cioccolato caldo con pano(?). We had quite a relaxed day until it came time to climb the steps back up to the station in Santa Margherita. That ordeal was followed by a long train delay which meant standing on the platform for 45 minutes - no seats to be had. The trains are always pretty crowded with tourists so it's a race for a seat when you climb aboard. We returned to La Vigna in time to put our feet up for an hour prior to the big birthday party. Then it was on with the glad rags and wigs and downstairs. Valeria and the staff had made one huge table for us to sit around. It was decorated with flowers and a big 50 balloon and they had put out the extra special crockery. Nibbles and drinks were followed by another huge meal - 4 courses as usual and mostly fish dishes. Dessert was a huge birthday cake with a map of Italy showing Moneglia and Roma. Then there was a little band, a boy and girl, who had chosen all the right songs for our age group. I have never seen Joe dance quite like that. He had certainly lost his inhibitions. Maybe it was the wigs, but everybody was really letting their hair down. Bed at 1.30. Sunday was our last day at La Vigna and Alan and Denise drove us down to Moneglia where we checked out the Sunday market before the rain came down and sent us into a waterside cafe. Lorraine went down to the water to dip her toes in the Ligurian Sea and then we drove along the coast to Chiavari for lunch. We decided to keep going and we noticed a lot of police ad people along the road. We were soon stopped by a policeman who sent us up a side street to wait while the riders in a bike race came through. We had a great view of the race and wondered if Simon Clark, an ex-student of mine, was one of the riders. After most of the riders had passed we were allowed back on the road but there were still a couple of bikes behind us and we let them pass. Somehow we ended up driving all the way to Portofino, largely because there was nowhere to turn around. A final huge meal and a few farewells for those who were leaving very early. I was so tired I could hardly keep my eyes open during dinner. The final farewells were said on Monday morning and we were on our way again. Train to Genova, Genova to Milano, Milano to Varenna. This was one place where I hadn't been able to check the route/distance from the station to the hotel , but Phillip had said it wasn't far so we set off walkin. It looked as if it was all downhill but it wasn't, and it was a long way. But when we got up to our room ... Ooh la la la la la la la la la la la la!!!!! What a view! A big room with high ceilings and French doors opening onto a tiny balcony overlooking Lake Como. The day has been misty so what we could see we shades of blue fading into the distance with each layer of mountains. Oh, to be able to paint! I spent the rest of the afternoon Flaked on the bed looking out at the view while Lorraine had a swim in the pool. For dinner we had pizza over the road, or rather, the piazza. The we tottered down steep, cobbled steps to the waterfront to look at the lights across the lake and eat a gelato. Home to bed. Exhausted again.

Saturday. I suppose you've been waiting with baited breath to find out if we made it to Moneglia, if we met the whole mob, and if it is all going to plan. Well, of course, the answer is yes to all. The Hotel La Vigna is a treasure, with pretty rooms and wonderful staff. It is about 5 km out of town and there were no taxis at the station, or answering their phones when we rang for one. Phillip's mobile wasn't answering - because he didn't bring it and I didn't have Melinda's number, so we rang the hotel. Next thing we know, the lovely Ciccio has driven down to collect us and given us a great welcome. We arrived at the hotel and there were Phillip and Melinda, looking relaxed and ready to greet us. People kept arriving through the afternoon and a few hours later we were all sitting down to the first of many enormous meals - all very traditional local dishes. Yesterday we headed off to explore the Cinque Terre towns. Alan drove us to the station and the four of us caught the train to Riomaggiore. We then walked on a very civilized and scenic walking path to the next town, Manarola, where we had lunch. From there we caught the ferry to Vernazza. It was packed with people. This is the first area where we have seen huge crowds of tourists. We had a wander round Vernazza, a gelato (of course) and then caught the train back to Moneglia. Melinda and Phillip had organized specially printed Tshirts for everyone, which must have taken up most of the space in their cases. So we all wore them down to pre-dinner drinks and had a group photo taken. The staff had made some diabolical cocktails and lovely nibbles, which were followed by another huge meal, with a seafood theme. I am about to go down to breakfast and I think we're going to check out Portofino today. I'll let you know at some stage in the future.

Wednesday. We decided to fork out for wifi here at our hotel in Turin, so I can write a quick message. It has to be quick because I'm nearly falling asleep. We arrived in Italy on Tuesday night after a long day of train-swapping and a very long journey through a tunnel I think we were in France when we went in and in Italy when we came out. Our hotel was a short walk from the station. Bardonecchia was pretty quiet as the summer season is over and the ski season has not begun. When we walked around town this morning most of the shops were shut, thought Lorraine did find a candle shop where she made a few purchases. We bought some postcards and stamps and wrote them while enjoying a cup of cioccolato. After lunch we headed back to the station and checked the platform for our train. Dammit! It was platform 2, which meant lugging the cases downstairs, under the tracks and upstairs again. There were no seats on the platform and we were very early, so it was a long wait. Lorraine decided to go for a walk, so she went back to the station entry only to find that the sign now said platform 1. So we had to move the luggage again. Lorraine finally worked out how to work the disabled lift so that saved one lot of stair-climbing.we had fabulous views of the alps as we travelled towards Turin. A little snow on some peaks, deep valleys, and villages which look like Swiss chocolate boxes. Turin was the city that Lorraine wanted to visit as she thought it would be interesting to see the Shroud of Turin. We asked at the hotel desk, only to discover that the shroud is on view for one month everybten years or so. This is neither the month nor the year. So much fornthe shroud, we went and had a gelato instead. Tomorrow we go to Moneglia for the big gathering of friends of the Whites. It will be pretty incredible to meet so many friends so far from home, and they will all have travel tales to tell. Can't wait!

Monday. The day has been overcast and we had rain during the night. We are so lucky to have had such great weather for our boating experience. We were up earlyish to be packed and ready to hand the boat back. It was sad to say goodbye to her. We had a final photo taken of us, wearing our nautical headgear, and Clairac. Then it was a taxi ride back to Agen and a long wait for our train to Nimes. Fortunately the station has a great cafe, cosy and with good, cheap food. Tuesday. An uneventful ride to Nimes. We saw quite a few wind turbines and a number of vineyards. The station in Nimes is beautiful. It is made of limestone and has fabulous vaulted ceilings. It also has lifts! Unfortunately, we only found them today (Tuesday) after hefting our too-heavy cases up and down stairs last night. We stayed in a seventeenth century hotel, also made of the local limestone. It reminded us of Romeo and Juliet, all stone balconies and staircases. The morning was spent wandering around Nimes. We visited the arena, a first century Roman amphitheatre, like the Coliseum. It's hard to believe that such an ancient edifice can still be in use today, but last week it hosted bullfights and they also have regular concerts there. The streets of Nimes were narrow and winding with lots of picturesque shuttered houses and some pretty trendy shops. At about midday we headed back to the station, where we discovered the lifts! It was much easier getting to the right platform. There are a number of changes of train today and so far we are doing well. Nimes to Lyon. Lyon to Amberieu. Amberieu to Chambery (the train we are on now). Chambery to Bardonecchia. So tonight we will be in Italy and I will have no more Internet access unless I can find wifi. So don't hold your breath for the next episode!

A huge day! We soldiered on through 10 locks and 25 km. It was exhausting. We had to wait at virtually every lock as the gates were always against us. Smith was running up and down stairs and catching ropes like a trooper. I had to throw ropes up to her, which was impossible from the aft deck because the verandah roof got in the way. Smith came up with a good system where I threw up the bow rope and she let the end of it down while we tied on the stern rope and she hauled it up. By the time we arrived in Condon we could hardly move. The Sydneysiders greeted us and invited us to join them at a posh restaurant in town. Of course we said "Yes please." We dragged on our glad rags and walked miles (it felt like miles!) through the town to the restaurant which was in an old abbey. Absolutely gorgeous! It has one Michelin star and is called La Table Des Cordeliers. Had a pretty darned impressive meal and enjoyed the company of the four from Sydney. Bed was pretty good too when we finally got home and collapsed. Next morning we explored Condom market - mostly fruit and vegetable stalls - bought some strawberries, and then headed back to the boat for our last day's sailing. Only three locks today, but one was a double lock with a lock keeper, who gave us a couple of huge tomatoes when we admired his garden. Made it to Valence Sur Baise in time for lunch and before the rain started. At the moment we are waiting for a load of washing to dry, before preparing dinner, our duck confit. Don't know how that will work out. Lorraine has been out on the bike again, cycling the town. She found the abbey and not much else.

We've arrived in Condom after a very long day. I am having trouble with my 3G so may not be able to write anything until we are in a hotel with wifi. My phone has also cut out and I don't know whether that has somehow been linked to my French Internet connection. I think this will stop at 7.00 - in 10 minutes - so I'll tell you all about our travels when I can.

Can't believe it's Friday night already and we only have a couple more days on our lovely boat, Clairac. Today we didn't get away as early as we wanted to because there were boats moored very close to us and we didn't think we could get out. We waited for the people in front to go and then we followed. We went through 5 locks today and are becoming quite competent in going up. My rope throwing is improving, though I still can't throw it up high from the stern of the boat - the roof gets in the way. Every time we come to a new town or village we are amazed by it's beauty and history. They just seem to get better and better. Nerac is a town rather than a village and it's breathtaking! It took us ages to walk around the town because we had to keep stopping to take photos. Our friend Anne, who is known for taking millions of photos, would be beside herself. The buildings are mostly of limestone, so are beautiful color. We saw limestone cliffs along the river. There are churches, half-timbered houses and a chateau or castle (?) belonging to Henry IV. Each of the gargoyles on the chateau was carved with a different animal or bird. Some of them were too worn to recognize but others were quite clear. Everywhere we have been there are colorful pots of flowers - in window boxes, big tubs along the streets and hanging from lamp posts. From our mooring on the river, we can look across to the opposite bank where there is a row of pots of pink flowers, petunias I think. We stocked up on cheese and pate etc in a lovely charcuterie in the town this afternoon and I also signed up for more Internet time on 3G. I used up my first lot talking to Phillip and Melinda on Skype! There'll be no more of that until we're in a hotel with free wifi! Dinner tonight was in a cafe right by the river. It was very unusual - sort of giant sized toast with toppings. I had pear, blue cheese and walnut. It came with a scoop of savoury ice-cream, which you eat with the tartine. Most unusual, but very tasty. Once again we are feeling pooped by the end of the day. A couple of glasses of red wine might also have something to do with it. Tomorrow will be a very big day as we have to cover 25 kilometres and go through 10 locks. We plan to stop for lunch at Moncrabeau and then go on to Condom. Now that should be an interesting town! The mind boggles!

France really is tres bon. Today we went down 2 locks to take us from the Canal de Garonne to the River Baise. The river has more bends than the canal so is more interesting for the person steering. The countryside was largely forested but we saw fields of sunflowers and of corn, as well as what seemed to be a boarded up, deserted chalet. We arrived at Vianne around lunchtime and encountered the first lock where we were going up instead of down. From now on the will always be locking up because we are going upstream. Lorraine had to hop out of the boat before the lock and climb up some steps to the top. When she got there she discovered that she was on the wrong side for the lock mechanism so she had to clamber across the lock gates to get there. I took the boat in alone and once it was stopped (more or less) I had to throw the bow rope up to her. We made it on the second try. I then tried to throw the stern rope up but there was no room to swing my arm back and it didn't go nearly far enough. By the third throw I was getting wet and the rope was really heavy from falling in the water. Lorraine had the bright idea of tying it to the first rope and hauling it up. That worked well, thank goodness, otherwise we'd still be there. Lorraine says that I throw like a girl! She has been very good at leaping out of the boat and working the lock mechanisms, and she takes a pride in keeping our water tanks topped up. Vianne is a very historical town and was the home of Eleanor of Aquitane, famous for marrying, first the king of France and then, the king of England. What a woman! The town is surrounded by a high wall with a gate in each of it's four sides. I'd estimate that it is less than a kilometre per side. We had a walk around the town in the heat of the afternoon and returned this evening for a delicious meal at a cafe in the town square. The square is full of chestnut trees which are dropping chestnuts everywhere - and no one seems to be picking them up to take home and roast! We forgot to take our torches into town but there was enough light to find our way to the boat and climb aboard. We have been in bed by 9.30 every night, so tonight was a big night out because we got home at 10.00. Lorraine is already tucked up in her cabin and I am ready for mine. We have 5 locks tomorrow and about 11 km to our next port. Bon soir.

It's Wednesday morning and I am still in bed, thinking about getting up. I was too tired to write anything last night, after our first day of adventures on the water. We set off early, the first boat out of port, because we didn't want to make a fool of ourselves in front of the others. The first challenge was crossing the aqueduct. I had been imagining us crashing through the side and plunging hundreds of feet to the river or road below, at the same time destroying an important piece of French heritage. Needless to say, we cruised through perfectly and faced challenge number two, the four locks. Lorraine hopped out and looped the ropes around the bollards. This is where I made my first mistake. She wanted to hop back on but I thought she should stay up top to manage the ropes. So I went down into the lock with the boat and she was stranded up top. I had to sail to the next lock alone while she walked. Obviously Lorraine had listened to the lock talk better than I did! We were going brilliantly by the time we got to the last lock, but here the next adventure began. The lock wouldn't open to let us in. The French people in front of us went ashore and phoned the lock keeper. He arrived after a few minutes and fiddled about, then called for support. Another guy arrived and they both fiddled about with a long pole, then called for more help. Some older guys arrived. They too poked about with the long pole and finally called in the frogmen! After much shaking of hands, and discussion, the three frogmen suited up and plunged into the water, reappearing with a huge piece of wood, which had been blocking the gates. By this time there was quite a crowd of onlookers as numerous other boats had come through the locks and were waiting for us to clear their way. We had the perfect view of the day's entertainment as we were the second boat in the lock with the gates right behind us. We spent the four hours or so that the performance took, sitting on our rear deck with front row seats! When the guys emerged with the log there were cheers and clapping all round and we were soon under way, headed for Serignac. We survived our first day's cruising with only a punctured fender, which was damaged by some sharp metal as we approached the dock. It was early to bed last night after our first day of adventures afloat. I had hardly slept the night before, worrying about wrecking the boat and all the things that could go wrong. Today I am sure we will set off with much more confidence.

Have you been wondering whether we made it to France, found each other at the airport and managed to use our Eurail pass to travel to Agen? Well, the answer to all is yes. How amazing is that? Lorraine was waiting at Changi Airport when I arrived in Singapore and we chatted for half an hour before heading off to our different flights. About 17 hours later I was waiting for her at Charles de Gaul airport when she flew in on Finnair, having travelled via Helsinki. We validated the Eurail Pass, found our train and had a very smooth, comfortable and quiet journey south to Agen. The train was so much pleasanter than those cramped and noisy airplanes. Last night we stayed in a hotel. We were absolutely exhausted because we had been traveling for about 36 hours (I think). We were asleep practically before our heads hit our pillows. This afternoon we walked to the little port area and found our lovely boat - a Penichette P1120R, aft-deck model. Her name is Clairac and we love her already. We have a bedroom each, a fully equipped kitchen and a couple of outdoor seating areas, one in the bow and one in the stern. Tonight we enjoyed drinks and nibbles in the bow as we watched the sunset reflected across the water. By the time we had a driving lesson, a "how to work the locks" lesson and then a long walk to the supermarket to buy provisions, it was too late to set off. We are very happy to be relaxing in port before getting under way tomorrow. How's the weather, you ask? Hot! About 30 today and the forecast is for high twenties for the rest of the week. Aren't we lucky? We know we are and we really appreciate our good fortune in being able to have this adventure.

Welcome to this blog about our trip to Europe. It is written for family, friends and Heather's lovely students. I don't yet know how to do anything clever like adding photos, so we'll have to see what happens along the way. The travellers are Lorraine and Heather, who met at Burwood Teachers' College in 1971 and have been friends ever since. They, along with another 6 teachers' college friends, are known as "The girls". That'll do for the first posting. More when we have actually left Australia.