Monday, 31 December

Fine

 Sorrento to Rome

At eight in the morning we left the hotel. At ten forty-nine we arrived at Pompeii. On our way, we passed through Positano, Amalfi, Vietri sul Mare and others. The scenery of the coast, mountains and water were so beautiful, no wonder artists say people would be unable to draw the sea scenery if they did not go to see these places. Though this was my third visit, I still found the time was just too brief. If I get the chance I would certainly visit again to see the scenery and take more photos. I visited the old city of Pompeii again, and ended staying until half past one in the afternoon. Then we immediately went to Albergo Anglo-Americano to have lunch. At half past two we left, and at three we reached Naples. The burner of my car was slightly out of order, and it took over half an hour to fix it. Then we drove along the coast, and at a quarter past five we passed through Formia. We stopped for a while and fixed the car again for near one hour. So we did not return to Rome until nine. The New Year’s Eve banquet organized in the Chinese Embassy was big in scale, and we met many people there. After dinner, there were many entertainments like music and singing, and people had a happy time there. Bishop Lo Kuang said that there had been heavy snow in Milan and Venice for the past few days, therefore we decided not to visit there. We would return to France only via Florence, the journey would be cut short by half. I expected that we would be back to Paris by the fifth of next month, and we could return the car on seventh. Therefore we did not need to borrow a car from the Embassy stationed at the Vatican. I discussed it with Yu Junji. He also agreed.