Pisa and Chamonix

We spent most of the boys' two-week Spring holiday in Paris, but True had been asking to see the leaning tower of Pisa for nearly a year. So we packed up the car one day and left town at about 6:30 p.m.

We got as far as Dijon and spent the night there. We resumed driving after breadfast the next morning.

It was raining by the time we entered the Alps.

Still, it was beautiful. We saw many waterfalls.

Finally, we reached the entrance to the 12 kilometer tunnel that runs between France and Italy beneath Mont Blanc.

There was a terrible accident in the tunnel in 1999 when a truck loaded with margarine and flour caught fire. The fire burned for 56 hours and killed 39 people who were trapped in the tunnel.

We emerged in Italy ...

... and drove down the beautiful Aoste valley in the rain.

We arrived in Pisa at dusk and stopped at the Square of Miracles to see the famous tower.

Sky took this picture of Romulus and Remus and the shewolf.

We drove around and around in Pisa's narrow streets looking for a suitable hotel. We finally settled on Hotel Leonardo, which True had spotted while researching Pisa on the Internet. We checked in and went out for a late dinner at a nearby restaurant. The food was excellent. I had spaghetti vongole.

The next morning, we went out to explore.

True and Anna figured out how to get back to the leaning tower.

We visited the baptistry and the cathedral there. Here, I am taking a rest while the rest of the crew climbed to the baptistry's second floor.

The details in the cathedral were delicate and fascinating.

The ceiling was ornate.

We settled down on the grass to wait for our turn up the tower.

At 12:20, we started the climb ...

... to the top.

Anna had been up before when she was about Sky's age. Here she is standing roughly where Galileo reputedly stood to drop his cannon balls.

Sky and I wanted to eat at a more proper restaurant than True did, so Anna stayed with True and we went off to have a big meal at a place called Ristorante Nando just outside the city walls. We had a raw seafood platter as antipasto and then we had pasta and then grilled fish. We were both too full for desert.

We had hoped to go on to Florence to visit Pierce, but my Hong Kong negotiations forced us to return. We got back in the car and headed for France.

Unfortunately it was night by the time we drove through the Aoste valley and into the tunnel. When we got to the French side, we decided to spend the night in Chamonix, the famous ski resort town.

The town was empty and we had no trouble finding a room, though we opted for a more economical choice than what I had had in mind.

We woke to clear weather and had a wonderful view from the hotel balcony.

Mont Blanc as seen from Chamonix.

We took a gondola ride to the Aguille du Midi, the sharp peak nearly obscured by clouds in this photo.

We saw some mountain climbers returning when we got to the top.

It was cold up there!

When we got down, we got back in the car and started off for Paris. It was a beautiful drive out of the mountains.

We stopped at a place along the Yonne river in Burgundy for dinner. It was listed in the Michelin guide and was run by a gregarious chef named Alain Renaudin. He spoke English and was very entertaining.

He served us cocktails on a terrace by the river before we moved inside for a sumptious meal. I had goose and Anna and I split a side order of fresh morels cooked in butter and cream.

The cheese tray was amazing. We left full and happy for the rest of the drive. We got to Paris around midnight.