Getting off the train in Arles, I was relieved to have arrived at our destination even if it was a couple of hours after we had initially planned to. Thursday afternoon, we checked into our hotel room and were pleasantly surprised to see what a pretty view of the Rhône River we had. Our hotel is right by the river and the sunsets here are amazing!
Our luggage safely in our room, we walked around the historic old town to explore. When we first starting walking around town, it was about 19:00, and as I had chosen dinner at Vieux Lyon the night before, I suggested she pick a place to eat. By the time we had walked back to the main square, many of the shops and restaurants had closed for the night. Many cafés and restaurants still had customers inside, but it was mostly to catch the last plays during the World Cup. We were surprised by how early places closed. In all of the other cities so far, dinner places are usually still open even around 22:00! After walking around and being faced with closing cafés everywhere, I finally decided on a kebab place that seemed to have a good deal. We took our food kebab and fruit soda and headed to the banks of the river; our picnic was nice and calm with the sun setting beautifully.
After dinner, Anne decided to have dessert to finish off her meal, so we headed back into town to look for a gelato place. Many places were also closed, and the few that were open sold single scoops for more than 2€, much more than Anne was willing to pay. Feeling a little disappointed, we headed back to our room to shower and head to bed early, but Anne decided she ultimately did not mind paying the extra few cents and decided to indulge her cravings so the night ended with gelato and a happy Anne.
The next morning, we boarded a quick train to Avignon, a quaint town that is known for its French nursery rhyme, lavender fields, and an old Papal Palace. We walked around the town to a large garden area that for some reason reminded me of a cemetery, well-manicured flower bushes and flowers on a rather quiet environment. We walked back around to the town to look for a place for lunch, but instead of heading to a stand and having something for the sake of it being inexpensive, I decided to have lunch at a family-owned quiche restaurant. We had a slice of the meat and cheese quiche, as recommended by maman Françoise, the matriarch and head chef of the restaurant.
After lunch we walked around the town for a bit before heading back to our town, Arles, for dinner. Our plan was to buy Anne's souvenirs, go to the market and buy goodies for breakfast tomorrow, and head to dinner at a restaurant. We went to buy souvenirs, and then wanted to visit the Van Gogh museum, as this is the town he lived in. The museum was about to close, so Anne got to browse the bookstore to look for her favorite painting: Starry Starry Night, or as it is known in French, La Nuit Étoilée. We walked in the direction of the neighborhood market and stopped to get gelato on the way. I enjoyed some apricot flavored icy goodness while Anne braved the Fadoli flavor, consisting of olive oil and Nugatine. She's a brave one, that Anne.
Next on our list was the market, and as we browsed the aisles meant for locals and not tourists, we were amazed at how low the prices were. We just couldn't resist and bought breakfast for the next day, and dinner for tonight. Our dinner selection consisted of a meal reminiscent of our time in Heidelberg with Nele and friends! We bought French bread, cheese, and salami. We also bought snacks for train rides as we have several three- and four-hour long rides coming up.
We walked back to the Rhône River right in time to catch the sunset. Our dinner was deliciously filling, our girl talk is reserved for our memory only, and the fun we are having is really difficult to put into words right now.
Tomorrow we continue our journey through Provence, the French countryside. We are off to Marseille and Nice!
Au revoir mes amis!
Our view on the train changed from city streets to the countryside, complete with hay and horses. We moved to quickly for me to catch the horses, so y'all get this view.
The view down the walkway right next to the river. Anne and I walked down this path about five different times in our exploring town.
This was the cathedral at Avignon. I don't get tired of seeing churches and cathedrals every day here!
This is the same river we've seen in Lyon, Arles, and Avignon. Here it is on the banks of Avignon, and we also saw kayakers there.
No pictures of Arlene on ledges for this post. You get the paparazzi shots for this entry.
This is my friend, Jean Lamile, who studied at Bordeaux about fifty years ago. He's a painter who sits atop a mountain every morning and draws both scenery and tourists as they walk by. He's pretty cool.
This is half a bridge in Avignon. It originally separated the Popes from the rest of France. They decided Rome was too dangerous so they moved to France. The French didn't like it, so they built a half bridge.
Our lunch at Avugnon. There is Maman François serving us water. She was so nice to us!
Macaroons at the indoor market at Avignon. Gluten free and dairy free. They were ok I guess, but they look beautiful don't they?
My apricot gelato; I'm not as brave as Anne in the food department. We have a little over two weeks to change that.
Our dinner tonight, so yummy and such a great view in Arles!
Sunset fun with my camera. We were trying to work with shadows and couldn't figure it out...
So we just took normal pictures--as in selfies.
And we are all a laughs!
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