I loved this car!

taken early 2007 Gareth Laundon and Adele Williams (13) not a lot to see saddly

Florence is absolutely wonderful! It lived up to and exceeded my every expectation. Ever since my European Art and Architecture paper at Massey I have wanted to go ... and it was great.

This is the view from the Ponte Vechio ... and a rower very obligingly completed the postcard scene.I bought lovely black leather gloves from the shop on the bridge ... despite the rude man in the market saying it was "Impossible!!!!"

I took this photo!

Another stunning view from the Ponte Vechio, Florence. Early winter really was a stunning time to see Italy.

I thought Liam would be fascinated by the poultry markets

The view of Florence from the hills above the City were just beautiful. We had clear gorgeous days.

After leaving the Plaza Michaelangelo we strolled down the hill and stumbled upon the Bardini Gardens. So we climbed back up the hill through these beautiful gardens and at the top we entered the Boboli Gardens. I wandered down the Palazzo Pitti while Pippa saw the gardens from end to end.

"Turn around now !"

Pippa didn't often command me so imperiously .... so I turned around. What a sight! They light up the Tower every night now and it is a sight to behold.

We found these beautiful tiles decorating a church in Montmartre, Paris ... thought of Rosalie (see I really did think of most people while I was away!) I couldn't fit the Church in my bag so the photo had to do.

I will find the name of this glorious sculpture sometime .. but I loved the fluidity of the marble. This was just one of many beautiful art works in the covered area of the square near the market in Florence.

I thought of my friends a lot while I was away ... and would have bought this back as the perfect present for my dear friend Chris - who has every gadget known to man..... except a bacon slicer ... for which he is pining. I think this one would be perfect!

Never let it be said you can't sit in a posh restaurant, in a posh touristy place, without spending a fortune...

The Florentines, in fact I'd go so far as to say every Italian we met, have no customer service ethic at all. They treat customers with something nearing on distain and so long as you didn't take it personally it was fine.

This was the statue that graced the square in Florence, that housed the restaurant, where we sat and sat and sat and sat and waited and waited for the menu... we could have left, nicely rested after half an hour without spending a cent!

Another lovely bronze sculpture in the cemetery.

How come I didn't know the interior of the Notre Dame is painted? I was so surprised. This photo of a marble sculpture of a praying priest shows the beautifully painted interior of the side chapel.

We were very lucky and visited the Notre Dame at night. It was beautiful: softly lit and very much alive. A service was held so we heard the organ playing and a priest singing. Lovely experience.

Another interior shot of the restaurant ... truly was amazing.

Just one more photo - every wall was a postcard!

We wandered around the cemetery in Montmartre. Found some famous people but some beautiful headstone monuments too ...

This one was for a famous actress ... and if you look closely her lover's face is emerging from the stone on the right. This was life sized.

The camels wandered off into the dessert after being petted .... they managed to find their way back by morning for food. We felt a baby camel through the mothers stomach and drank camel milk!

We had promised ouselves 2 quiet days by the pool in Dubai: ha ha!!!

We spent an insane day and half seeing so much. I think we slept - a bit anyway. The markets don't close until 11pm and we had so much to do and so little time.

Our last night there we went out into the dessert and rode camels, smoked hookah, belly danced and saw the sunset.

We found this delightful restaurant at the top of the Montmartre Butte ... tiny. Like a dolls house. It was ridiculous squeezing two big Kiwi chicks in but so funny .... like a jigsaw. We had the best onion soup here ...

The last two days in Paris were significant for the transportation strike. We got to spend a whole day looking around Montmartre - and it was a real highlight.

We walked up a gazillion steps to the magnificent La Basilique du Sacré Coeur de Montmartre. What an astounding view! It was crystal clear and a harpist was playing at the top. Just magical.

The Moulin Rouge really is in the red light district. I loved the blatency of the signage; nothing subtle about it!

The vegetable markets in Florence were beautiful ... we bought the sweetest strawberries seduced by their smell!

Tour Eiffel ... I hadn't cared whether I went to see this or not ... but I am so very glad I did. It was so surprising how the steel has been made to look like delicate lace ... she really is an elegant lady.

I had to make sure I got close up shots of the construction aspects for Connor!

I loved the juxtoposition of the Coca cola sign with the Moulin Rouge