I will be commenting separately on the Hotels on this tour, the Guides, our Drivers and Italian drivers at the end of the tour.

Camera stillrefusing to download, will have to wait until we get home to complete the blog. Today we started off in Chianciano Terme and found that the local knitting circle had crocheed the trees, branches, flower pots and even a car in the town square. Later we arrived in Cremona, really nice town. The cathedral is a must to visit, the interior is spectacular, beautifully adorned.

Today we were in Rome. Visited the Vatican, St.Peter's Square, the Colliseum, Trevi fountains and the Spanish Steps. Rome was a seething mass of humanity today, not ideal. Camera refuses to connect to Tablet so can't download anything. Weather was nice though.

This morning it was Herculanium, excellent visit. See the photos, they show it all. Thia afternoon we took a ride on the Circumvesuviana. The train to Sorrento was quite crowded and was invaded by a load of teenage schoolchildren, mostly boys. The boys were extremely badly behaved......maybe it's not such a disaster in the UK after all.

Today was a tour of the Amalfi coast, from Sorrento to Positano to Amalfi and Ravello. The views were stunning and the town tours very interesting on the pros side. However, on the cons side, the bus booked for our tour by Leger was quite small so we were squashed in and very uncomfortable. (Even the little buses on Capri were more comfortable). The other downside was that all the views were on the RHS of the coach so those on the LHS didn't have a chance to take photos when the bus slowed......should really have stopped to let us have equal photo opportunties. Also we were somewhat conned into having lunch at some out-of-town restaurant which we were't told about beforehand. Not the best day of the tour.

Yesterday was a hospital visit so Pompei and Vesuvius were missed. However we had great sunset from our balcony. Today was Capri......it was mayhem, the place was packed but fortunately we had an excellent guide and she sorted out all the trips and visits on the Island. Great views. Also had a sea trip around the island. Very expensive though, we were charged 6€ for a small cup of coffee in Capri itself.

Today was Sorrento, very hot and very busy. A cruise ship was in port so the place was crowded. Very narrow streets and alleyways. Lots of tourist shops, some expensive so shop around. C

rossing the road is a bit of a gamble at times.

Last night we stayed in Parma Congressi and today we drove through Italy, past Naples and Vesuvius to our hotel in Vico Equense. We have a balcony view over the Bay of Naples.

This was the long haul day....we started at Reims in France and finished at Parma in Italy having gone through Switzerland. We were on the coach for 12 hours! Going through the Alps was very scenic but we didn't stop for photos.......bit like the Rockies really but a lot busier and more populated. Service areas on Swiss motorways are superb.

Coach pick-up on time, one pick-up in Brighton then all the way to the tunnel transfer point. Changed coaches then non-stop to Reims getting here at 7.30 pm tired out. Weather is fine, scenery is very flat, just like the Alberta praries exept with more trees.

For years, Leger coaches have always picked-up and set-down outside the bus station and close to the rail station. However Leger drivers have complained that 'the  town centre gets heavily congested as there are  level crossings through the centre which spend more times with the barriers down than up. This has been having a knock on for the drivers feeder routes as they have been losing time in Chichester and causing delays for other pickups'  Not sure if I buy that.
Anyway, the first revised pick-up point was in an inconvenient  lorry park at the back of Waitrose, next to a disused toilet block and recycling bins...very nice. I complained, as did others apparently so the new pick-up point is next to Franky and Benny's.

At the end of last year we had signed up for a trip with Leger and paid out deposits but my wife started getting knee problems and we were forced to re-think the holiday. Unfortunately we missed the deadline date to cancel by a day and although we were quite prepared to loose our deposits, Leger insisted on full payment or re-book or we would be talking to their lawyers. So we booked for Italy instead well in advance. However we didn't realise this was a long haul job, yes I know we should have, so we are hoping it all goes OK.