We're here! Finalement! We arrived in Paris at 9 o'clock this morning, pretty exhausted from the flight, but so excited. Craving a hot shower and a good bed, our mission was to get to Avignon as fast as we could. Procrastinators that we are, it was only about half an hour before the flight landed that we decided to figure out exactly where it was that we had to go to get the train and by what time. There was a train heading south to Avignon out of Gare de Lyon, leaving at 11:15. That gave us two hours to clear customs, get our luggage, figure out how to get from the airport (on the very outskirts of Paris) to the train station (in central Paris), make a reservation at the station, run for the train and jump on board. No problem!
We hightailed it out of the airport and took two inner-city trains to get to the station. Once we arrived, we had 20 minutes to figure out where to book the resrvations, and find the train. Again, no problem! It took 15 minutes to realize that the reservation computer system was down, and that it was a free-for-all on all trains. So we ran for the train, jumped on board, and realized right away that with the reservation system down, there were waaaay more people than seats! Each carrying 50 lb backpacks, we had to decide whether we could endure a three hour train ride withour a a proper seat. As we were trying to decide, the train started moving and we no longer had a choice It was going to be a loooong rip. The irony was that we splurged for a first class rail pass, and ended up sitting on a luggage rack at the back of the car with no windows. For those of you who know me, you know that no windows on a rocking train car (or ferry or bus etc.) = ill Karen.
Part way through the trip, the conductor took pity on us (we must have looked pretty pathetic) and ended up unlocking the tourist information booth, which gave us two comfortable seats with a first class view! I couldn't help laughing at the thought that we, the tourists, were sitting under a big "information"sign.
Upon arrival in Avignon, we felt immediately relaxed After navigating our way through the hustle and bustle of of the stations in Paris, it was wonderful to step off the train into a sunny, warm day in Provence where you can tell amost right away that the pace of daily life here is much slower and more laid back than it is in Paris. We took out our little Rick Steves hand book and picked out a few options for a hotel, took the bus into town (through the old city wall) and were able to find a hotel on our second try.
After crashing for a few hours, we got up and wandered further into town for a bite to eat. We had an incredible dinner in an outdoor cafe just around the corner from the Palais des Papes (Palace of the Popes). We shared an aubergine appetizer (the best eggplant we've ever had), and then Dan had beef stew while I had salmon with grilled local vegetables I was so satisfied from dinner, that I didn't even have dessert! Again, for those of you who know me, this will tell you exactly how great the dinner was!
Tomorrow, we're off to discover the little town of Avignon. The first song I remember learning in Kindergarten in Montreal was "Sur le pont d'avignon"(which I've been humming all day), so I'm pretty excited to see the bridge tomorrow, just to say that I've seen the bridge I learned to sing about 20 some-odd years ago.
We're in our hotel room now watching the Habs beat Phili 4 to 1. Go Habs go! Then it's time to catch up on some sleep.
We'll post again soon!
K&D
We hightailed it out of the airport and took two inner-city trains to get to the station. Once we arrived, we had 20 minutes to figure out where to book the resrvations, and find the train. Again, no problem! It took 15 minutes to realize that the reservation computer system was down, and that it was a free-for-all on all trains. So we ran for the train, jumped on board, and realized right away that with the reservation system down, there were waaaay more people than seats! Each carrying 50 lb backpacks, we had to decide whether we could endure a three hour train ride withour a a proper seat. As we were trying to decide, the train started moving and we no longer had a choice It was going to be a loooong rip. The irony was that we splurged for a first class rail pass, and ended up sitting on a luggage rack at the back of the car with no windows. For those of you who know me, you know that no windows on a rocking train car (or ferry or bus etc.) = ill Karen.
Part way through the trip, the conductor took pity on us (we must have looked pretty pathetic) and ended up unlocking the tourist information booth, which gave us two comfortable seats with a first class view! I couldn't help laughing at the thought that we, the tourists, were sitting under a big "information"sign.
Upon arrival in Avignon, we felt immediately relaxed After navigating our way through the hustle and bustle of of the stations in Paris, it was wonderful to step off the train into a sunny, warm day in Provence where you can tell amost right away that the pace of daily life here is much slower and more laid back than it is in Paris. We took out our little Rick Steves hand book and picked out a few options for a hotel, took the bus into town (through the old city wall) and were able to find a hotel on our second try.
After crashing for a few hours, we got up and wandered further into town for a bite to eat. We had an incredible dinner in an outdoor cafe just around the corner from the Palais des Papes (Palace of the Popes). We shared an aubergine appetizer (the best eggplant we've ever had), and then Dan had beef stew while I had salmon with grilled local vegetables I was so satisfied from dinner, that I didn't even have dessert! Again, for those of you who know me, this will tell you exactly how great the dinner was!
Tomorrow, we're off to discover the little town of Avignon. The first song I remember learning in Kindergarten in Montreal was "Sur le pont d'avignon"(which I've been humming all day), so I'm pretty excited to see the bridge tomorrow, just to say that I've seen the bridge I learned to sing about 20 some-odd years ago.
We're in our hotel room now watching the Habs beat Phili 4 to 1. Go Habs go! Then it's time to catch up on some sleep.
We'll post again soon!
K&D
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