Mar 31

---

March 31st - Paris - Charles De Gaul

We arrived in Paris via a surprisingly pleasant Air Canada flight from Toronto. I was hoping to get a few zzz’s on the flight over the pond but unfortunately my sleeping pills were in my checked luggage! Big mistake. I only dozed briefly now and again for a few hours in between being stirred by talkative teen girls and the bathroom door slammng every few minutes. I wanted to tell each person who entered the restroom to turn the handle when they closed the door so it wouldn’t slam!

After a couple of movies, sleepy, relaxing music on XM Radio I began seeing daylight peeking through the plane’s tiny windows. Soon after, the flight crew announced we’d be arriving in Paris in 1hr, 45 min.- at 9:55am local time. We were just flying over Ireland. Beautiful!

After gathering our luggage, dispersing for lunch we regrouped to board the super fast train to Avignon. Hooray! The train workers are not on strike today! It would have been 9hrs on the bus if we couldn’t take the train - which was the “rumour” I heard (due to striking train workers).

I had a hard time looking out the window and focusing on landscape in close proximity to the train because we were going so fast. The landscape looked dry. Not much rain. The sun is shining, not a cloud in the sky. As we left the city, I saw clumps of tower cranes in the distance every now and again. No buildings though so I’m curious to know what they are using the cranes for. Maybe a quarry? The buds are just starting to form on the trees but for the most part they still look winter dormant. It’s nice to be out of the airport after waiting 2.5 hours for the train. I found a couple of teachers and a parent tucked away enjoying a pint. I was quick to escape with them getting away from the incessant teenage girl chatter.

The tour group seemed a tad disorganized which surprises me because of the 20,000 odd students they reported to have guided. I’m still not sure which sub group I’m supposed to be in. Really seems very confusing and disjointed. Panic struck the guide’s face when the train approached and he herded us on, regardless of the group we were supposed to be in.

The militia at the airport walked with really big guns, except when off duty, and flirting with the tourists!

Avignon. We hopped off the train, boarded a bus and entered the old city walls of Avignon. The architecture is of course simply beautiful. Our hotel is right on the “strip” which was fun to explore before a late dinner.

After a long, long day, it was so nice to finally lay down for a sleep. Thanks to my little blue friend I was able to navigate the 8 hour time difference easily and had a wonderfully sound, long sleep.

---