We arrived at Milan Central station, a massive, Musolini style building, all facade and not much more. We walked through the financial part of town and then into the famed fashion district, passing famous fashion brand shops as we trekked in smelly hiking kit with no concern for any form of fashion. It was a long heavy hike into town, (backpack on back and day packs on fronts), about 3km, but we made it to the Piazza La Scala with it's statue of Leonardo de Vinci and the opera venue of note, the famous La Scala theatre. From here the enormouse Victor Emanual shopping arcade, with it's Gucci, Rolex, Armani names, oh and Mc Donald's, lead to the Grand Duomo Piazza. Inter Milan were playing a European Cup match that evening at the San Seiro (spelling) so the piazza had a heavy police presence and small groups of fans were beginning to gather when we eventually decided to take the metro back to Milan Central. This was only after we'd had a rather dry ham and salad roll while walking around the Duomo. Other than the Duomo, Piazza and Victor Emanual arcade, Milan seemed a rather dull place in comparison to Rome and Florence. Maybe we needed to stay longer. We couldnt as we had a plane to catch, so it was all aboard the Malpensa airport bus which took around 40 minutes. Checking in and boarding Easy Jet was a breeze. All our air tickets and some train tickets were booked over the Internet from home and we never ever had any hassle.
Gus and Caitlin had window seats and were thrilled to see the Alps down below at one stage. We touched down in Toulouse after a one hour flight, there was no emigration (Carol and her SA passport and visa breathed a sound of relief) and there was brother Andrew to meet us. It's been so, so good to see him.
A quick drive through the central Place (now not piazza), an impressive place with all of Toulouse out sitting at pavement restaurants enjoying a wonderfully warm evening. Driving past the Toulouse rugby club we made our way to the campsite near the airport where Andrew had arranged a wonderful meal of Samour Sparkling wine, French red wine, cheeses and suasissone. Our time in France had begun well.
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Location:Cauterets
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