Camping through France, Spain, Monaco & Italy

Where do i start and how do I fit 46 days worth of fun into a single blog! I promise I will keep it short and have more pictures than words! Here goes............

So after trekking around Southeast Asia with a guidebook I thought i'd take the easy way out and have someone else take me around Europe! Thats exactly what I got and made tonnes of new friends in the process, all thanks to Contiki.

So with Driver Dave, the amazing Chef Jodie & probably one of the best tour guides ever (Tara) we were off! Volcanic Ash tried its hardest to postpone the Europe trip but after 2 tour groups were joined together we finally jumped on a massive coach and departed London on April 20 with a ferry across the English Channel to Paris. We passed the White Cliffs of Dover as everyone continued to meet and greet and somehow remember so many new names and faces! After a few more hours on the coach we had arrived in Paris. Wow! What a city! After pairing up and setting up our new homes (tents) we were back on the coach for a tour of Paris by night. Stunning! In the following day or so we visited all the major sights including the Eiffel Tower, Champs Elysee, The Louvre (Mona Lisa), St Chapelle, Arc de Triomphe, Moulin Rouge, a visit to Versailles and of course a French restaurant where Escargot (Snails) & Red Wine were on top of the list. A highlight in Paris was our erratic bus driver Dave's efforts going through the Arc de Triomphe roundabout - no wonder they don't insure anyone on that bad boy! I think we managed to cut off a record 84 vehicles in one go! Good stuff Dave!

You guessed it.... The White Cliffs of Dover

Escargot - mmm It wasn't anything too special!

Me & the Eiffel

The awesome view from the top of the Eiffel Tower

The Eiffel from underneath!

Myself, Mike, Katie & Jess after multiple red wines at dinner all look a little special...

Beautiful views at Versailles



Awesome views of Paris

Arc De Triomphe craziness!! Not quite as crazy as Hanoi!

St Chapelle - absolutely stunning both inside and out.

After 2 freezing cold nights in Paris (even with a few red wines under the belt) we jumped back on the coach and headed for a 1 night stopover in Lyon. Unfortunately we didn't make it into town but the dodgey campsite had a wicked view over the city. Next we were off to Barcelona, Spain where the dangerous drinking game of Kings became a regular evening event. This game becomes particularly fun when Absynth is involved! By this time everyone was starting to gel and a game of late night rugby only ended in waking driver Dave and a broken tent! Good times!
Our brilliant tour guide Tara took us on a Gothic walking tour of Barcelona which was followed by a bus tour of the city. We then had the whole day to entertain ourselves before meeting up with the group for some Flamenco dancing and multiple litres of Sangria. The crowd participation and Spainish guitar were clearly the highlights before we headed out to a strip of nightclubs for a very entertaining night. As it was the 25th of April (ANZAC Day) Tara had prepared a few words and a minutes silence on the way to the dancing. You could tell we had a great group as everyone being pretty smashed was able to pull themselves back a bit and think of what the ANZACS had to endure during WW1.

A few sore heads in the morning saw us back on the coach and on our way down into the French Riviera. We had a day in picturesque Nice where the challenge of getting into the water on a Pebble stone beach was slightly on the painful side for the feet. That evening we headed into glitzy Monaco to try our luck at the Monte Carlo Casino. Of course I had a little gamble and after a few funny looks at my dirty dunlop volleys and shaggy hair I managed to walk away with 35 Euros! HA! It was a wierd experience sitting there with these extremely rich geezers giving us smelly campers greasy looks all night. I think everyone was glad to leave and head back to the campsite for some 'cheaper drinks' & a more 'comfortable' environment.

Views over Nice

Next we were off to Italy with a quickstop in Verona to stand under the famous Juliet's balcony from Romeo and Juliet before continuing on to Venice. We had a great walking tour through Venice and tasted some amazing pizza! The rest of the afternoon was used to explore the thousands of alley ways in and around the beautiful city. A quick visit up the Campanile di San Marco (bell tower) provided some awesome views. We also went into the famous Saint Mark's Basilica and battled with the pigeons in St Mark's square. The afternoon was topped off with bottle of prosecco (Italian champagne) and a gondola ride through the canals of Venice. We then took the ferry back to the campsite for a BBQ dinner & drinks. What an amazing city! I can't wait to come back here and do some more exploring.



Italy has the best food in the world!!



Gondola ride through the canals of Venice

The view of Venice from the Bell Tower.

An early departure from the campsite ensured we would have enough time to stop off at The Leaning Tower of Pisa (and of course the cheesy photos) before continuing onto our next stop, Florence. After an action packed week and a bit everyone was a little sluggish and not really in the mood for a night of karaoke. But..... after a 'quick' bottle of red wine each we soon hit our form and the karaoke started on the bus before we had even hit town! We only needed one super strong & largeish drink at this karaoke bar which came with 1metre long straws..! Everyone had a cracking night with all the karaoke favourites being blasted out with a live guitarist. We thought the night had finished come 1am.... nope not at all! It was May Day (1st May) and the people of Florence know how to party! We left the karaoke bar to be greeted by a packed street with live drummers and some of the tastiest street food i have ever eaten. Everything was a bit of a daze but i think we danced for a little bit on the street and then spent a good while searching for a taxi to take us back to camp. What a brilliant night!

Cheesy Pisa pictures!

The next day we had a tour through Florence and then some spare time to explore ourselves. Everyone was extremely excited about our nights activities that were to come. Enter Space Electronic Discotek!!! I thought the night before was fun, but things got even crazier here! Gi Gi (the owner) looks after the Contiki crew, especially when you give him a tip on arrival. Basically after a few of Gi Gi's own special concoctions everyone was tearing up the dancefloor! I didn't know what to expect from Florence but I now know its the place for great food and an even better night life.

Alright... I know I am writing too much so take a break, get yourself a cuppa and I'll start a new blog from Florence onwards!