Pretty in Provence

After Paris, we headed to Avignon in Southern France, in the Provence region.  We arrived later in the evening, around 9:30, into a train station that seemed to be in the middle of nowhere.  I will admit I was a bit freaked out, because we were so used to arriving in busy city stations.  But Jon took it on as a challenge, figured out where we needed to be, and we started walking.  Thank goodness it's been staying light out until about 10:30.  Thank goodness also that our hotel was actually quite close to the station.  It was called the Hotel Bon'sai, which is just plain old fun to say.  Like I said, we were a bit in the "country," so there wasn't much going on around the hotel.  There was a grocery store, a gas station/car wash, and a fast food joint.  Most of them were closed, but we were drawn to the neon lights of a restaurant called "Buffalo Grill."  It was all the "home" we could have asked for!  Steaks, potatoes, and even country music blaring.  It was fun
ordering because our waitress spoke no English.  We have noticed this benefit of staying in smaller cities; fewer people speak English which leaves us with the challenge of crossing the language barrier. This would frustrate some, but we see it as a part of learning and experiencing the culture, which sometimes leads to surprises (such as when Jon ordered steak hache in Paris and ended up with a hamburger).  I ordered chicken wings with veggies and rice.  Jon got a shish-kebab of meat and veggies, along with delicious green beans and more veggies with cheese.  I also tried a new drink that is popular in France, flavored
syrup with flat tap water.  Flat soda, basically.  I got cherry, which was actually quite good, but we noticed that the mint flavor was very popular amongst the locals.  After a good meal, with very full bellies, we headed back to the hotel to get some rest for the day ahead.

The next day, we spent the better part of the morning trying to plan out the rest of our trip (trains, hotels, etc.).  I was getting annoyed with spending more time worrying about where we were going to be the next day and how we were going to get there, rather than enjoying where we were in the moment.  So we wrote out a plan and headed into town to the train station. Of course, they couldn't book anything we needed train-wise, which meant we couldn't plan any hotels because we didn't know for sure when we would be in which cities.  All the while, we also worried about getting to Pamplona for the Running of the Bulls, because we'd heard that hotels fill up, trains don't run, and unless you plan ahead you won't be attending.  Needless to say, we left the train station feeling discouraged, and despite the decent night's sleep we'd had, a bit crabby. We thought about renting bikes to explore the city, but by this time it was 3:00 and we figured it wouldn't be a good investment of 24 euro for just a few hours.  So... we wandered. 

The town was actually quite quaint.  There were fewer tourists, which is always a bonus.  Avignon is a medieval city, and the town center is still surrounded by a large wall.  Back in the 1500s, when Rome we having a bit of dishevelment, the Pope decided he needed to get out of there, so he headed to Avignon and took up residence there.  The town has a lovely fortress that overlooks the river, city, and surrounding mountatins.  We were able to climb to the top for some great views and a stroll through some beautiful gardens.  We viewed the outside of the Palace of the Popes, and went down by the river to view the
old bridge and sit in the grass for a while.  It was a nice break to be in a lovely city with not much to do!  We found a small local restaurant that was having happy hour.  It was tucked away in the side streets, quiet, with great people watching.  Jon ordered some wine, I got sangria.  And we lazed the afternoon away, me reading and Jon listening to music, watching the world go by.

When it was time to leave, we hopped on the bus.  There was a Chinese restaurant attached to the gas station next to our hotel that had been calling our name all day long.  Unfortunately, when we got there, we learned that they only had a buffet, and it cost 17 euro a person (roughly $25!), and there was no way we were spending more than $50 on a Chinese buffet!  Luckily, the grocery store nearby was open, so we opted to find something there.  This is where I had the near meltdown over dinner (see previous post).  Jon was happy with bread, meat, and cheese again.  But I wanted a the real deal, a hot dinner with actual, filling food.  Of course, without any kitchen implements or tools this was very difficult.  So we wandered the store, and wandered again, and wandered until I was ready to give up (or really to freak out in this case).  We ended up with sandwiches, chips, soda, and cookies.  B to the blah. 

Avignon was a nice trip away from the big city, but we were ready to head on our way.  Tomorrow, on to Barcelona!