Jill,

Thanks a lot for the input!
Rome is in our itinerary, not sure if it will be out last stop to Denver or once before going to Lake Como if I still have money and energy. My daughter is looking forward to seeing the Coliseum, so we may stay there for a couple of days.
We may stay a day in Positano to just feel the vibe, but being on a pebbly beach is not my cup of tea, mostly when those are hot, hot, hot.

Mia

Thanks for drudging up all the names you can remember, Jill!

Mia- I also stayed in Sorrrento and think it makes a good base. I loved Capri. The hike is gorgeous. Glad Rome is on your itinerary; there is so much to see and do there. I am very excited to be introducing my 13 yo son to it.

Thank you for posting your TR--very helpful for those of us planning a France/Italy trip with kids! Would love to stumble across the restaurant in Paris with the HUGE creme brulee--that's our favorite, and we intend to have one every day we're there! Also, thanks for the positive reviews about EasyJet--we'll be taking that from Pisa to Paris, so your descriptions help calm my nerves about the stringent rules you read about with them.
Thanks again for taking the time to give us this report!

Brava! Great report.

Turns out I benefitted from my own report too! I didn't think we could afford to return to Europe for years... But we earned enough miles for us to go (but without the kids) this October. I really struggled with an itinerary that didn't include Italy. We finally settled on Turkey, Greece and Croatia. Three new countries. Funny - two years ago I wrote that is what I wanted to do in my next trip! Now I know I made the right choice.

P.S. The kids still talk about Europe and beg to return. We took them to the Caribbean and they wanted Europe instead. We took them to Maui and they wanted Europe instead. I reminded them of the freezing rain at Versailles and the 14 hours of walking. They still want to go back to Europe. Maybe the Germany castles in a couple of years...