Final thoughts

We had a wonderful trip and met a lot of very nice people.

We were on the highlights of Europe tour with Insite Vacations. We booked it through AAA.

1. Our accommodations were all clean and large. There were a few glitches but all were resolved efficiently. Who knew that you had to put your room key in a slot in the wall to get power in your room?
2. Our included dinners were yummy and there was wine or beer included. We tried all local beers and wines. Most were excellent.
3. As you have read, we got to see all the main attractions in each city, and we never had to stand in a line. The tour had arranged express "queues" for everything we did. We can't imagine what it would be like to try to plan all this on our own.
4. They offered optional tours (some that included dinner) in each city. We picked 9 out of the 15 that were offered. (i.e. the sound of music, the grand canal, dinner at a family Austrian chalet, the horse and buggy, Moulin Rouge, etc). They were affordable when considering what we got in return.
5. The coach had lots of legroom and was very clean. A cooler up front always had ice cold water which was nice.
6. We never touched our bags. They were delivered and picked up each day.
7. Our tour director and driver were amazing. I would ask for her again. (Betty Griffith)


All 4 of us gave excellent's on the survey and would travel with this company again. Betty told us on day 1 that we were on a tour, not a holiday and she kept us busy all day every day.

Things we will remember on our next trip
1. We needed all 3 converters to charge our electronics each night.
2. WiFi was available but the free options didn't have security to be able to post the blog or download pictures into the cloud. So we ended up buying wifi in most cities.

Day 18: travel back to California

Today was the first day we didn't have to get up in the dark! Even though our flight is at 3 we have to leave the hotel at 11:30.

We arrive back in California at 6:30 pm. We hope to be home by 8:30 pm.

Day 17: Travel to London

Today we dropped off part of our group at the airport and 10 of us continued on, via the Calais ferry, across the English channel to Dover... Then onto London

The water was rough today, making walking around the boat harder than normal. (you kinda feel drunk, even if you aren't drinking).

I think between our phone, iPad, and camera we have taken about 2000 pictures. So not too many today. We are about pictured out.

Dinner at the quaint little pub called the Grazing Goat. Great food and beer.

Day 16b: Paris - Moulin Rouge

Awesome time. Our table actually touched the stage. The food was great, the wine not as much. Scantily clad girls and boys prancing around all evening as feathers floated down into our champagne glasses.

The look on Cathy's face when the tank of snakes came up from below the stage was priceless. She could have reached out and grabbed them (little danger of that). All survived.

Really was a great variety show. Sorry but cameras were not allowed.

Day 16: Paris

In the morning we went up into the Eiffel Tower. Very impressive. 375 meters tall. (We took the water driven hydraulic elevator, not the 600+ steps, up). our hotel is almost right under it!

Then onto a drive around the city, much like what we did last night looking at the lights. Saw all the main attractions including the Opera House (musica) and Notre Dame

Next we visited the Louvre and saw the Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, Nike, and paintings by daVinci and sculptures by Michelangelo.

Finally we went to the lock bridge to put our "love" lock on it and threw the keys into the Seine. Then we walked 3 miles back to our hotel, stopping at a sidewalk bar for a "beverage"!

Tonight we go to the Moulin Rouge. They don't allow cameras so we will not be able to post any pics tonight of that.

Day 15: travel to Paris

A very wet drive to Paris for the first hour, then intermittent showers and sunshine. Felt nice to be tucked into the coach. We got dome reading in This was the longest day driving.

We crossed the Rhine today 3 times. The French countryside was beautiful, looks a bit like Germany, but the cows are white here

Our movie on the coach was Midnight in Paris.

Our hotel is in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower.

We had a lovely dinner tonight then a moonlight cruise on the Seine. More on Paris tomorrow.

Day 14: Lucerne

In the morning we went up Mt. Pilatus. Unfortunately it was raining, so we didn't get the spectacular view we were hoping for but we did get a couple of shots on the way up. The technology of the railcar, built in 1891, was cool. It goes up at a 45 degree angle in places. We weren't able to come down by gondola cable car due to the weather.

Then onto the lion monument. Pretty spectacular, carved into the side of the mountain. He looks sad due to the Swiss soldiers lost saving the French.

In the afternoon we took a horse and carriage ride into the countryside, and met a cheese maker and his family. It was his carriage and he drove us around his village. Then we had some homemade apple juice and some pink wine. Both were very tasty.

In the evening we had dinner at another great restaurant.

Day 13B: Lucerne

Tonight the four of us did our own thing. We walked around Lucerne, and had dinner at taube. The roschti and the cheese/macaroni was great. Both swiss dishes. Then back to the hotel for a nightcap at the Thai restaurant in our hotel

Day 13: travel to Switzerland

Left Italy for a long drive to Lucerne Switzerland. Through Bologna, Parma and Milan. Then hoping to get a glimpse of George Clooney in Como! We had some rain on the way but mostly an easy drive. The sun came out again as we entered Switzerland

Some beautiful lakes: Como, Lugano there are hundreds, the tunnels open to a new breathtaking site

Now we need to brush up on our German again for Switzerland. I like speaking Italian.

Doug here. Not used to being away from home for this long. As incredible as this trip has been, I find myself a little homesick. I miss:
- My girls
- Driving my car
- Bowling nights with my friends
- My bed and pillow
- Having a bathroom larger than the size of a postage stamp
- Carne Asada burritos
- Pho
- Television shows where they speak a language that I understand
- Having more than one electrical outlay per room would be nice
- Getting football scores (they totally ignore American football here, and instead follow a game where they chase a little round ball all over the field and fall over feigning injury every few minutes).

One of the things on our list to do when we get home...watch movies (again) filmed in the cities we have been in. Specifically: Casino Royale (Venice), the Sound of Music (Salzburg), Gladiator (Rome). We watched Tea with Musollini (Florence) on the coach today between Parma and the Suisse border.