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.