Another sleep in today, our train wasn't until 11.11am, so we took our time getting organised. As we left the Novotel it started raining - Paris was crying because we were leaving!!! (Sorry, couldn't resist the bad taste schmaltz). So, we trundled over to Gare de Lyon with our luggage and were ready to head for hall 1 where we've seen the train to Geneva for the last three days, but no, today it would be in hall 2, so we made our way there and I asked the littl...

Straight after brekky we headed off on our coach - Bob had us being the first group up Mt Pilatus, which was lovely. Our first cable car took 30 minutes or so, and the second took about 9 minutes on the first one we were travelling through cloud all the way, but then we suddenly rose out of the cloud. It was incredible. Mt Pilatus (where they believe Pontius Pilate's spirit to be) is where they filmed the James Bond movie - On Her Majesty's Secret Service. It is ...

So we boarded our bus and retraced our steps to Bologna and continued north west to Switzerland. We passed through Modena, home of Ferrari, Andrea Boccelli, the late Luciano Pavarotti and balsamic vinegar (which is NOT used on salads in Italy, but to marinate meat, to sprinkle on strawberries or Parmesan cheese after dinner). We continued on through Parma, home of Parmesan cheese (which is produced from cow's milk, with cows that do not go outside and do not ...