We’re off an adventure today – we’re taking the train up to Lake Como for the day.  A 40-minute ride and we were arrived in this lovely little lakeside town. 

We arrived at Milano Centrale, all baggage intact and into a taxi to head off to our Air BnB.  It is in a great location, one metro stop, or 20 minute walk, from the Piazza del Duomo.

Geoff suggested we stay in Villefranche for the night.  Situated in the bay around the corner from Nice, it is one of the most beautiful ports, with crystal clear waters and surrounded by colourful Provençal greenery

A few hours’ drive into the countryside and we arrived at the lovely home of Anne and Richard, friends of Geoff’s, who are kindly hosting us for a few days.  Their home is in Le Thoronet and is nestled amongst the vineyards, pine and olive trees

About an hour’s drive from Agay and we were in Saint -Tropez.  For a number of years we owned a house in the village of Gassin which is located just behind Saint-Tropez.

We arrived at Nice Ville station and there to meet us was my dear friend Sharon who coincidentally was in Nice for a few days on a business trip.  Unbelievable how much chatting two women can get through when there is a time limit.

We are en route to the French Riviera tomorrow which involves two more TGV’s, the first departing from Nantes. We thought we would at least give ourselves a half day here to have a look around before we travel south.

We arrived in Brest, and are staying in the city centre so it was an easy walk down to the port where there is plenty of action.

Another breakfast on the terrace before we checked out of Les Brises and made our way out of La Rochelle towards Brest.  Too much driving for one day so we decided to stop off for the night in Saint-Nazaire.

Located on the Atlantic on the south-west coast and protected from (most) storms by the barrier of the islands of Ré, Oléron and Aix, La Rochelle is a port complex and an ocean gateway due to the presence of its three ports – fishing, commercial and yachting.    

A quick breakfast in the Marché de San Quentin and we were off to Gare Austerlitz for our TGV to Gare Bordeaux-St Jean, the Train à Grande.

And we’re in Paris!!!!  The weather is amazing, everyone is strolling around and enjoying the Spring sunshine and long sunny nights and so are we! 

One day in Athens so we have to make the most of it.  Luckily both Geoff and I have been here numerous times so there was no pressure to tick off lots of sights in one day, we were able to make a more leisurely day of it, and that we did!

We disembarked the Viking Mars in Piraeus in Greece and headed straight around the other side of the port to get on the ferry taking us out to Poros, a small Greek island in the southern part of the Saronic Gulf. 

Another busy day, our first appointment was the Provisions Tour.  We were met by Alan, the Inventory Manager and taken down into Deck a which houses crews’ quarters, the officers’ mess and the provisions, and it is where food preparation is done.  14 days’ of stock is kept down there. 

The third largest city in Israel and with a population of 290,000, it is home to the Baha’i faith and a UNESCO World Heritage Site (yes another one!).  Built on the slopes of Mount Carmel it has been ruled by the Canaanites, the Israelites, the Phoenicians, the Assyrians and the British. 

Situated on the River Nile, Cairo is Egypt’s largest city and home to 20 million people.  The ancient cities of Memphis and Heliopolis are located in its geographical area. 

As many of you are aware, when Geoff completed his circumnavigation of the world, the only regret he had was not being able to sail through the Suez Canal.  This was due to the risk of Somalian pirates, much more prevalent back in 2012 than it is today. 

We are only here for a short time, we docked at 6.00am and are departing at 2.00pm (more of this later!!) and the only tour on offer was on a Glass Bottom Boat.  Given we had snorkelled yesterday and had actually physically been amongst the coral and fish, we decided not to bother that.