Blogs from Avignon, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France, Europe

Glorious blue sky as we set out in Smart Car for Avignon. Just across the bridge over the Rhone but think we went a slightly long way round as the traffic signage is not at its best round here. Avignon is completely walled and the traffic round the outer wall is Mad. There are mainly only 2 lanes to the road, one each way but every now and then there is room for a 3rd so they squeeze in a bus lane. Which does no good at all as 5 metres later that lane ends and the buses squash back into the lane with the normal traffic then stop at the bus stop ! Not helped by multiple crossings on lights so it is stop start all the way and yes we did witness one prang ... read more

. France - and a bit more: Week 2 This blog describes our 2023 journey to Europe; specifically France (with the possibility of a small foray elsewhere as both Italy and Spain are 'next door'!). As always, we segment the 'blog' into roughly weekly or fortnightly posts (this being the 2nd). Our travel blog has been written for family and friends to 'travel with us'. We now recognise we write the blog for ourselves; it is how we revisit our past adventures and remind ourselves of the the enjoyment. Thus, there is more detail included than merely a brief discourse for family and friends. BTW, if you want to see the picture in a larger size, just click on it. Oh, and if you missed Episode #1, you can find it here. . May 21 - ... read more

Cue up the church bells, for which I wasn’t ready for at 8a. But we slowly made our way down to coffee and prepare us for the train to Avignon. It was hard to leave the beautiful Nice area (French Rivera), but time to start moving towards Provence, our region of choice for the next 6 days. We walked the few blocks to the train station, found our seats in the top of the train (2 floors) and settled in for the 2.5 hour trip to Marseille. We passed Antibes, Cannes (where the film festival was happening) and other small villages along the Med coast with beautiful villas both on the beach and off. In Marseille we did a quick train change, and the 37 mins to Avignon went super-fast as it was the bullet train! ... read more

Avignon is our home base for this part of Provence. Avignon is located in Southeastern France. It is located on the left bank of the Rhone river. Between 1309 and 1377 the center of the Catholic Church was here and home to seven consecutive Popes. In 1348 Pope Clement VI bought Avignon from Joanne I of Napes. The church controlled the town until 1791 when during the French Revolution it became part of France. Avignon is one of the few cities in France to have preserved its city walls.The wall is about 2.7 miles around. It takes about 20 minutes to walk straight across the city. The streets are cobblestone so you have to be careful walking. This is a living city with schools and shops of every kind. Avignon Les Halles An indoor shopping area ... read more

Tag 6 – So, 15.3. We want to go home Am nächsten Morgen standen wir um sieben auf und humpelten zum Bahnhof. Alles war leer dort, und auf den Straßen fuhren auch keine Autos. Im Bahnhof war das Reisezentrum noch bis 8.30 Uhr zu, aber zum Glück hatte ein Schalter schon offen. Wir wollten den Zug reservieren, doch der Angestellte sagte uns, es gäbe keine Züge mehr nach Frankreich heute. Gar keine. Wir konnten nur nach Barcelona fahren. Wir sollten es vielleicht mit BlaBlarCar versuchen. So ein Schock. Schnell erstellte ich mir ein BlaBlaCar-Account und suchte Verbindungen. Namid suchte nach Flügen, in den nächsten Tagen war alles weg. Ich schaute alle Oui- und Flixbusse durch. Ich fand nur eine BlaBlarCar-Verbindung von einem Ort außerhalb von Barcelona nach Perpignan. Schnell stellte ich eine Anfrage. Am liebsten hätte ... read more