Day 18 we were to finish up our Top Deck trip but since the tour was continuing on to Florence as well, our kind Topdeck crew Malcolm and Rogan gave us a ride to Florence and even invited us out to dinner that night! We really had a blast with everyone on the tour making new friends and learning so much more then we do when we travel alone. The next few days after leaving topdeck we really learn how valuable a tour guide and bus driver is to have!

In Florence we stayed in an Airbnb rental in a cute apartment with a patio and pet canaries! However, It was quite a walk from the city centre (about 25-30 minutes). Day 19 we took a cooking class that was Selby's Christmas present from Matt and that took up most our day. We went to a food market for taste testing and then learnt to cook traditional Tuscany bolognese sauce, tiramisu from scratch and the highlight - fresh pasta from scratch and ravioli with ricotta cheese! We can't wait to try making pasta at home! After all that we got to eat it all - YUM! We also had the famous florentine steak for dinner that night.

The next morning we went to go climb the duome but the line was so long so we climbed the tower next to it and went back to our apartment to pack our things ready to catch a train to Pisa! WELL, this is where our troubles began. It was 'bank day' in Italy aka no taxi's available and all public transport runs late. We waited for what seemed like forever to get a bus to the train station. Then when we got to the train station a plain clothed man took our tickets with an authoritative voice and said 'I'll validate these. You going to Pisa? This way please' he took Selby's bag and lead us down the train, practically pushed us into an empty carriage, sat us down and sat next to us and says 'now you pay me.' He got really angry when we refused to pay him 10 euros so we gave him 4 euros and he left and we put it down to a lesson learnt - nobody helps anyone for free here! So off we went to Pisa. When we arrived we only had 1.5hrs till our next train to Nice so we ran from the station to the leaning tower. Some people say it's not worth the trip but for us it was a beautiful sight to see and we felt such relief to have made it there. We took the classic snaps holding it up with our hands then quickly made it back to the station for our 3 train journey to Nice. We made it through each change over on the trains with difficulty as no one speaks English to help but after a long day, at 10.30pm we arrived at the most beautiful apartment in Nice. (Another airbnb rental)

Day 21 we awoke to a beautiful sunny day in Nice, France. We walked down to the pebble beach with crystal blue water, had breakfast in a little French cafe and climbed Castle Hill that over looked the beach. But then the rain came... We took shelter in the contemporary museum, full with bizarre creations and went to the photography gallery exhibiting Jean Paul's spectacular work! The rain cleared and we hired some rollerblades for Selby and a bike for Matt and explored the length of the esplanade and had a delicious seafood dinner!

The next day in Nice was a relaxing one. We ventured to Matisse's garden with a picnic lunch and laid out on the pebble beach for a while before we packed our things and jumped on a train to Paris in first class! We arrived quite late at night in Paris and stayed in a dirty run down hostel that smelt.

Day 23 we went to the Love Lock bridge to add our lock to the many others. On the way we found a fantastic market where we ate yummy things and bought lots of trinkets. We also saw Norte Dame and reminisced about the show gargoyles that Selby used to watch. We then hired some bikes and rode all through Paris starting at the Eiffel Tower to the Louvre and back. That night we stayed in a much nicer apartment, another airbnb rental.

The next day in Paris was beautiful weather and one of our favorite days of the whole trip. We got up early and lined up in the short line to climb the stairs. It was a good choice as we hardly waited long at all and enjoyed the bit of exercise. Getting all the way to the top we waited in no extra lines and the view was spectacular! We really enjoyed the Eiffel tower. After that we joined a hop on hop off bus tour which took us around for a little while. For lunch we went to Montorgueil st, recommended by Chris. Then went to the Louvre (which had no lines either) and saw the famous Mona Lisa which was very underwhelming. We saw so much art we were over it all by the end and jumped back on our hop on hop off which took us to the Arc de Triumph. We went to Laudree and got 6 of the best macaroons and then found a French restaurant for dinner and tried snails - their not too bad at all!

Day 25 we did a little shopping in the nice streets around our apartment packed up our stuff and got on the train at 12pm to go to the airport feeling very happy at how early we'd be for our 4pm flight. During the train Matt thought he'd just check the flight number and noticed it said flight for 12pm.... s***! We'd somehow got the flight time VERY wrong. There was nothing we could do. We arrived at the airport and our flight was gone. We spent the rest of the day organizing flights for the next day and accommodation at a hotel nearby. It was an expensive lesson to learn - double and triple check flight times!!!

Day 26 we were the first to check in for our flight and board it on our way to Phuket. Time to relax!