Milan to Paris. . .Oui, Oui!!

On Monday 23 July, we said "ciao" to Venice and got back into the car for a three hour drive to Milan. Our drive was uneventful and we arrived in Milan at about 1.30 pm. We weren't really sure what to expect in Milan and we only had one day to find out. . .After checking into the hotel and a quick lunch in the local coffee bar, we found the tram that would take us into the centre of Milan to have a look around. This only took about 10 minutes and we were in front of Milan's Duomo in the Piazza Duomo. This was a beautiful church and we took the opporunity yet again to light some candles and to say a few prayers (the kids love doing this and come to expect it everytime we enter a church).

Alongside the Duomo run a number of streets in Milan which are well-known for the shopping experiences. It wasn't long before we became distracted by the big (and not so big brand names) and started having a look around. We found the Ferrari store and given Ferrari's recent 1, 2 win in the recent grand prix event in Germany, there was barely any room to move in this store. To top it off, there was a real F1 Ferrari in the store which the kids were able to pose in for photos. After a fairly disappointing dinner, we headed back to our hotel on the tram. The next day was more of the same. . .shopping, shopping, shopping and although there were lots of sales, we found it difficult to find the things we were after. After a long day, we had a more pleasing dinner at a local trattoria (not in the town centre) that came highly recommended by our hotel concierge.
On Wednesday 28th, we said "ciao" to Milan and Italy (for a little while - as we will be back in the middle of August) and headed to the alpine town of Chamonix which is located at the foot of Mont Blanc in France. This is my third visit to Chamonix and the last time Steven and I were there it was on our honeynoon.

After our arrival, we headed straight into town for a lovely lunch in a local restaurant serving traditional and regional "savoyarde" dishes. Yum! We spent the rest of the afternoon walking around this beautiful town and taking in the dramatic landscape nefore heading back to our hotel so the kids could have a swim. Surprisingly, it started to rain and we took the opportunity to have an early night. Our hotel was truly wonderful - situated at the base of the mountainous peaks surrounding the town (at an elevation on 1036m).

In the next couple of days, we took the cable cars up to two of the highest peaks around - Le Brevent and L'Aigulle Du Midi. Unfortunately, when we visited Le Brevent, the weather wasn't cooperating and we were surrounded by mist and rain clouds and couldn't see much. When we visited L'Aiguille Du Midi the next day, we caught a break and after waiting two hours to get to the top (at an elevation on 3842m), we were rewarded with magnificent views of Mont Blanc and the glaciers surrounding. It even snowed on us!!!

However, Steven, Zoe and I all suffered some altitude sickness and became dizzy and very light-headed at the summit and couldn't walk around for too long before we had to head back down to Chamonix Valley!!! The boys thought it was so cool (literally!) as they were seeing snow in the middle of summer! Friday 30th July and it was time to farewell Chamonix and head to Dijon for a pit-stop on our way to Paris. Nothing much to report here as this was literally an overnight stay to rest and refresh ourselves before continuing our journey to Paris. After leaving Dijon, we did take the opportunity to drive through Chablis (a wine-making region) to do some wine-tasting and have some lunch. What a great stop this turned out to be. . .so picturesque with vineyards stretching as far as the eye could see and lovely restaurants in the town dedicated to showcasing the regions wines. Even managed to give our trusty Renault a wash at the automatic car wash!

Finally arrived in Paris around 3.30pm. The boys got a glimpse of the Eiffel Tower from the freeway and were beside themselves! We settled in directly into our apartment and then headed straight out onto the Metro to emerge at the Arc de Triomphe and take a walk down the Champs Elysee. It wasn't long before we came across one of the many cinemas that line the Champs Elysee and the kids were desperate to see "Toy Story 3" - as there have been many cities which are showing the movie - just not in English! So, we treated them to a movie. Past 10 pm and the Champs Elysee was still a sea of people walking along enjoying the lovely weather. Back to the apartment at 11pm. Fell into an exhausted heap!