Cinque Terre National Park to France
It was cool as we travelled from La Spezia towards France, around 16 degrees. Quite a change from the weather we've had for our stay in Italy. Our drive was nearly 400km to Chamonix and started by going through the National Park in a direction we hadn't travelled before. Some nice scenery along the way.
The weather improved as soon as we entered France, the sun came out and the temperature increased to the low 20s. We'd been travelling through a lot of tunnels, the longest today 11kms through Mt Blanc.

We have been looking forward to being back in France. We're particularly looking forward to baguettes and cheese! French bread and cheese is so good!

Chamonix-Mt Blanc
We're staying in Chamonix for a couple of nights, in an old converted schoolhouse (hosts Leanne and Hilton, a young couple who are keen skiers). Not sure how many people are in the house, as there are different areas with different types of rooms. Dinner was busy in the kitchen last night as everyone was trying to prepare meals!
In the afternoon, after doing some shopping and washing, we went out to Lake Passay. The lake is over a kilometre long and has a sandy beach. There were hundreds of people there enjoying swimming, playing, flying kites, walking etc. There were also quite a few people in the shade of the trees. When we left, the exit road took us past the rest of the lake; there were hundreds of people at the other end too! The first time we've seen a lake like it!

Aiguille-du-Midi
Today we went up in a gondola to Plan de l'Aiguille at 2317m , then in another up to 3777m. It was a journey of 20 minutes to the top! They used 22km of bearing and hauling cables to construct it. Unfortunately, the weather made it impossible to view the mountains and glaciers. We stayed up for a few hours to see if the weather would improve, but any improved view was momentary as the cloud shifted. On a fine day you can see the main Swiss, Italian and French mountains. However, we did take time to look at a display of mad-keen adventurers and their exploits up in the mountains. Mad! We tried to find the Museum about the construction of the Aiguille du Midi but ended up in the queue for a return to Chamonix, so decided to go back down.

Then we went for a wander into the centre of Chamonix, buying some ingredients (two types of cheeses and some ham) so we can have raclette for tea. Looking forward to that!

Our next excursion for the day was a train trip of about 20 minutes up to the Montenvers Mer De Glacé. Again, the weather made it extremely difficult to see anything once we were 1,000 metres up to an altitude of 1,913m. Discovering that the last train back meant we only had 25mins up there was a disappointment. We had time to have a look at the Crystal Gallery before the train left, but not enough time to go to The Glaciorum, which would have been interesting. The path down to the Ice Cave was not looking attractive in the weather either - a slippery 400 steps down and back up needs much drier conditions!
On the way back, we were above the clouds until we went through the first tunnel, then we were in the clouds and by the time we went through the second tunnel we were below the clouds. That probably tells the tale of the day!

Lyon
Our host in Lyon was Sylviane. We arrived about 2pm just a she was returning to the house - good timing! After showing us our room (lovely, with a private bathroom that was very modern), we headed into Lyon. Our first job was to post another parcel home, which we were told would take about three weeks, so it may arrive just before we do!
We then found the tourist centre, to check information about the two roman theatres and museum (Musee Gallo- Romain) in Lyon that we wanted to see.

It was quite warm, and there was a nice bar with tables and chairs in the square (France does have nice squares in their towns and cities!) It was a lovely setting and we cooled down with a drink there while we worked out our plan for the morning.
When we returned, we started to cook tea arms Sylviane and her husband Alain invited us to eat on their verandah. It was nice and cool there, and we spent some time talking to them both about our travels, Australia and world events.

We had an easy bus trip into the city, walked across the square to get on the funicular to go up to the theatres and the museum, but had to stop and have a coffee to get change for the funicular, as the machine would not recognise our cards. A man did try to help us, but he didn't have enough change for our notes. So, after coffee, we were able to get our tickets and go up the hill on the funicular. This one was completely inside a tunnel, the first we've been on like that.

We really enjoyed the museum, learning a lot about Roman history, religion and culture. Some of the practices for the dead surprised me and some of the translations of headstones quite touching. We were given an audio set to guide us through the exhibits (a welcome freebie). The commentary was very informative and well-paced so you could press the number of the next exhibit on the handset to listen to while you were walking towards that point in the museum.

As we neared the exit to the theatres, we noticed that the storage area of the museum had more items in it than the museum itself, so I wonder where it will all end up, as it was well set out already.

The two theatres were side by side, one larger than the other. One was partially set up for an event, but despite this we climbed a lot of steps to see as much as we could and get the most complete views of it. There were a number of school groups there as well as other people.

When we got back to Sylviane's, it was time to move on to Emmanuel's place in Nimes. As we spent more time exploring the museum and amphitheatres than we though we would and we took a detour to find an aqueduct on the way (unsuccessfully), we didn't arrive at his house until quite late. We stopped for dinner on the way.

Another lovely room, this one with a view to the pool! Their 10 month twins didn't make much noise in the morning as we warned they could, which was very considerate of them!
We bumped into Emmanuel in the supermarket before we left, so we're able to say goodbye again!

Nimes
The amphitheatre in Nimes is the best preserved one in Europe and it is still used for concerts (Santana in a few weeks time, for instance). There were a lot of people there setting up the stage area for the next performance. We had downloaded the app for the amphitheatre so could view the different areas at our own pace. Craig managed to get good panorama shots of the amphitheatre from inside as well as outside.

The old Roman hall in the town square was at one stage in its history a house! The exterior has been beautifully restored, but it's a pity that it is only used to show a film about how and why it was built.

We went for a walk through the Garden of Fountains. There were lawned areas for sitting on, lots of paths and walls and statues throughout the garden. It's huge! On the higher levels there are more plantings and a walk up to a ???? that we had planned to go to, but didn't realise we had to climb the path from the garden to get there. Sometimes you find out vital information too late! There are so many large water features in Nimes and lots of street trees so it's a nice city to walk around in.

Carcassonne
We actually stayed in Bram, a short drive away with Mathieu and Cecilia. We didn't get to see Cecilia during our stay of two nights, but Mathieu was a great host. After we arrived and got settled, he invited us to cook our meal and then join him and his friends outside, where they were having a barbeque. We spent a very enjoyable (and late!) evening with them, before wandering off to bed at about midnight. Don't know when they finished up as we fell asleep quite quickly!

Carcassonne is a very easy city to find a park in - they have the best signage of any city we've visited in the car. The view of the Roman fort is very impressive from the road below as you approach it. Inside the walls there are streets of shops, restaurants etc. It's a pity that you can visit it and learn absolutely nothing about it. We walked around a lot of the outside and there were no signs telling you what different parts were originally used for -there was no information for the visitor to learn. Impressive, but it's become another set of shopping streets and there is nothing to do there except eat and shop! Seems such a waste of an opportunity!