Tuesday April 21st
We had to up and out of the hotel early this morning leaving at 715am to head to the Paris Gare De Lyon train station for our high speed train ride to Avignon. We got the train station and everyone had time to snack up before we had to board.
It was a double decker train that can go up to 200mph, which made our 579km (360 mile) train ride only take 2 hours 45 minutes. There were no stops from when he left Paris until we reached our destination and it didn't feel like we were going that fast until we passed another train or went through a tunnel. It was such a smooth ride, even having to ride backwards was not rough like it is on an Amtrack that rocks back and forth and stops numerous times.
When we signed up for the trip and when reading the itinerary I was most excited about riding the train from Paris to the Provence region and to see the France countryside, and it did not disappoint. I just couldn't capture images that were very good because of the speed of the train and reflection from the windows.
I don't know everything that I was seeing as we traveled south, however I was watching the google maps and took these shots as we passed Grenoble in the French Alps, where Andre the Giant billed as hailing from.
We arrived in Avignon and got right on a bus and headed to the historic center of Avignon which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It's a 14th century gothic city that is encircled by a wall, and just on the outside is the 12 century Pont Saint-Benezet bridge, also known as Pont D'Avignon that at one point went over the Rhone river, however only 4 of the original 22 arches remain.
In the city part of it was vacant and it didn't look like much was going on. Then we found another part that had a carousel, many restaurants and a lot of cool little shops that we enjoyed checking out. We had lunch at restaurant with outside seating and it was a gorgeous day for it. Mrs. Collins found a t-shirt with a Maine design on it, it was actually pretty darn nice.
The main reason we stopped in this part of Avignon was to visit Palais des Papes, the Palace of the Popes. Six papal conclaves were held here during the 14th century, departing the Palace in 1377 returning to Rome.
I thought it would be, nicer, than it was. Many of the rooms were vacant, or had minimal paintings left, while a couple rooms did have some nice statues remaining. There was one room that echoed very well that Ella and Addison got a kick out of, well honestly we all did.
I did climb up to the roof and took several pictures as it was a heck of a view.
We had dinner Avignon at La Ferigoulo and I it was one of my two favorite dinner that we had on the trip. Dinner was Provencal tomatoes stuffed with minced veal & pork served with rice and dessert was chocolate eclairs. Essential these were meatballs resting a thick slice of tomato and I love them! Addison gave me her tomatoes which gave me the perfect amount of tomato for my meatballs.
At each dinner I would stack up the dishes at our table to make it easier for the servers to gather everything. At this restaurant the wait staff was appreciated and offered me a job. Dessert was AMAZING, the eclairs had a chocolate cream and not a pastry cream, so good! I told my waiter it was the best dessert of the trip so far, and he brought me a second, oh yeah! At meal time there were also gluten free and vegetarian options.
We took the bus to Nimes where our hotel was located, the Novotel Nimes Atria. This hotel was also very nice much like the one was stayed in the first 3 nights. However, while our previous hotel was in a desolate area when you don't have a vehicle, this hotel had much to see in walking distance.
I got checked into my room and called Kate to check in, I lost track of time and by the time I headed out to get supplies the grocery stores were closed, however Cory Creamer got me the hook up with a 7up Zero Sugar.
Let's talk about the soda pop choices or the lack there of. Over the course of the trip I stop at several small shops and a few grocery stores in both France and Spain to get snacks and drinks for the room or the journey.
Except at specialty shops, like the one in Avignon, choices were limited for diet or zero sugar flavors. Pepsi Zero, Coke Zero were the most popular. Also found 7up zero and a few flavors Fanta zero. The full sugar sodas were lacking as well.
Cory and I would report in to each other what we had found and where, Mr. Jenkins would sound off as well, he was a big fan of the Pepsi Zero Lime. Spain had more options than France did, it was also the only place I saw Diet Coke, called Coke Light. No Diet Pepsi anywhere. I posted a could video on my Instagram of me sampling the soda pops if you want to check that out: My Instagram
Wednesday April 22nd
Early start to today once again, after a fantastic breakfast at the hotel we jumped on the bus to begin our day of exploring. Paris and that region to me was 1800, with it's architecture and ornate carvings on the buildings and the bridges. The Provence region was Roman times, from when they ruled the region.
Our first stop was this morning was Pont du Gard, an ancient Roman bridge and aqueduct that is 160 feet tall, and carried 11,000 gallons of water a day over 50km for the people of Nimes. It was built in the year 40, forty!
It's so impressive to me that it is still standing! We went on the bridge and explored the area around it. I went into the museum but only had a few minutes to take it in before we had to be back on the bus.
We headed over to Arles, a Roman city that features the Arles Amphitheatre that was built in the year 90 and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
We did not go into this one as we were visiting the coliseum in Nimes later this day. When we got there it started to rain and it rained for the few hours. It was the only inclement weather that we had to deal with all trip.
Addison, Ella, Matt, & I explored the outdoor market and grazed on some food along the way. We then checked out the shops of Arles. I love all the narrow streets of all the cities that we explored on this trip.
Addison and I grabbed lunch at a place called Maxi Burger, we got something they called a Taco, but it was not that, it was like a panini wrap with fixings, it was quite delicious.
We took the bus back to Nimes and headed over to the Arena of Nimes to tour. This was built in the year 100, and while we were there people were rehearsing for a gladiator show that was happening that weekend. It would have been awesome to see that live, but at the same time to sit in this Arena and watch gladiators battling where people did the same 2000 years ago is mind blowing to me.
After the tour we headed back towards the hotel, because from the hotel we can see the Arena, which is also cool. We don't have centuries old buildings here in Maine like in Nimes and it's just fascinating to me that they are just a building people pass by everyday like it was nothing special.
We had quite a bit of free time before dinner, I went and picked up some snacks, most of the candy bars I saw in France and Spain I've seen in Canada before, the exception getting some Daim bars, similar to a Skor bar they are from Sweden, but they had a lot of various chips we don't have. I am a sucker for cheese chips.
I didn't care about going shopping and I had meant to buy a disposable razor at the grocery store as I wanted to shave my neck, by I forgot to pick it up. So I searched the area and found two barber shops 4 minutes away and decided to go get a shave. The first shop was closed, the second one was still open. I intended to just get a shave, but ended up getting a complete haircut, except for my beard.
They used the hot lather and straight razor and that's the experience that I wanted, it was a great haircut and shave and it was only 20 euros.
Dinner was right at the hotel restaurant and the main course was a turkey cordon bleu that was actually quite good. The chocolate mousse dessert was more like instant Jell-O pudding made with skim milk.
This was night 2 of 2 in Nimes, tomorrow is the long bus ride to Santa Susanna and our final three nights of the tour.
Until Next Time!
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