2019 Euro Trip – Avignon, France
The train from Aix-en-Provence to Avignon goes down to Marseilles and then back up again, no connection is available for the as-the-crow-flies 80 km journey north-west. We had a 4-seats-with-a-table setup on one of the legs, so it was a comfortable ride.
Arriving in Avignon, we were almost blown off our feet from the wind, gusting to 50 km/h. A very nice taxi man (a rarity in the world I assure you) dropped us at our rental apartment, in the heart of the old town, near the river among tiny winding streets and cafes and shops everywhere. The old town is of course surrounded by a massive wall to keep out the baddies through the centuries. We have a 3 bedroom flat in a building built in 1897. Jim had the master bedroom and I had another bedroom that was in a loft at the top of a steep metal ladder. It looked like fun until I hit my head on the ceiling and then had to pee in the middle of the night… every night.
Avignon is famous as the home of 7 Popes who didn’t live in Rome, from 1309 to 1376. Then from 1378 to 1417, there were 5 “Anti-Popes” who battled with the guy living in Rome to see who had the best hats, or something. Anyway, they left a staggeringly beautiful cathedral and gardens overlooking the river and many nice restaurants and cafes in the courtyard. I really don’t think that was part of the plan though.
We basically walked around the old city for 2 days, battling the wind and occasional rain showers, visiting many, many bars and cafes to sample their offerings, which were of course tasty and not as expensive as I had been fearing. It’s impossible to stay away from the smokers though. They don’t use ashtrays, one server told Jim to just drop his butt on the ground and it would be swept up later. Ugh. We also took a tram tour which showed us some other places that we went back to visit.
We planned to take the train to our next stop in San Sebastian, so we walked to the train station and the inevitable happened – a needed track was being worked on so no trains the next day. So, we booked for the day after and of course had to pay the extortion fee for the “reservation” even though we already have Eurail passes. Bastards. We contacted the owner of the flat and he agreed to let us stay for an extra day, and gave us a 20% discount, a very nice man having his 40th birthday during our visit. Unfortunately the hotel in San Sebastian wouldn’t let us slide our booking forward one day so we had to eat that night’s cost. Thanks French train maintenance guys.
One of the issues we’re finding in France is things close *early*. You cannot find an open pharmacy after 7pm, most things are closed on Sundays and we happened to be there on VE Day for the defeat of the Germans in WWII, so everything was closed for the whole day. Lesson learned: stock up on everything you might need when you see an open store. Fruit, chocolate, HDMI cables, penicillin.
So all in all, Avignon is a beautiful old city but not a lot to do other than walk around, sit in cafes writing nihilistic poetry and visit the cathedral.
