4-1-2016: Day 5, Off to Avignon

Our time in Eze has been a dream but it is time to follow the River Rhone to Avignon. 

Train training...

Getting to Avignon from Nice is not all that easy and the best option is by train. Of course everyone says travel by train in Europe is the best and trains go everywhere and yeah, yeah, yeah. We tried it in Oslo and it was not a pretty sight. Here is what we learned - Everyone in the train station knows what they are doing except us. Oh, and the guy in the information station may know but he is not about to share with us. We found too that people from Europe know to travel by train with minimum luggage - we travel with maximum luggage so that is a problem. Another piece of knowledge is that they do not always speak English on the trains and what they say does not always make sense. 

We made it but it was stressful. But the best way by far to Avignon is by train so here we are, at the train station knowing not what to do. Ask a police, ask worthless information, ask other folks and bit by bit you know a little tiny bit. This is a really stupid (sorry France) system. All passengers sit in a room off the main terminal staring at an electronic board waiting for our train track. Waiting, talking to others, waiting until finally, about 10 minutes before time to leave, up comes the track number. Off goes everyone - but where? We did some scouting and we know - it's down the outside walk and down lots of stairs. Yes, that is correct, down lots of stairs and no escalator or elevator or help of any kind. We each have two heavy bags so this is really fun. Jim and I grab the big ones and the ladies grab the little ones and we go bouncing down the stairs, take a breath, and down the tunnel and what?! Now we have to go up the stairs?! Bouncing and grunting we reach the top and the train is there. Find our car - never did understand how you find the proper car but everyone else does so we finally find a spot that has a lot of the numbers of our tickets, big suitcases stored at the end of the car and relaxed. Whew! That was stressful. 

Trouble - the dude on the loud speaker speaks only French. OK, we can handle this - the train is due to arrive at 10:45. We can just wait until 10:40, the next stop has to be ours so off we go. Easy. Not so fast: there is a problem that holds the train for 30 minutes and so our clue to our stop is gone. We look and finally see a sign for Avignon and ask everyone in our car and sure enough this is our stop. We go to grab our big bags at the end of our car and they are buried under tons of others! Damn! Yanking and throwing the bags we get the bags free and we head downstairs and the train is starting to pull out - "Stop!" and other French folks help by calling out "Stop"! in French and we make it! Whew!! 

OK, where is our driver? Looking, looking, looking - no driver. Outside the station we wait, the rain starts, the wind picks up and so does the rain. No driver. Ah - a text from our driver: "Sorry, you train was late and I have another appointment so, ....." . Taxi time - no taxi in sight. Oh wait, Tina spots three taxis down the ramp, across the street and so we are off. These taxi drivers are a bit crusty is a generous description. They see us and there is a lot of discussion and arguing and we finally get a price but we spend the next 10 minutes pulling out bags out of this taxi and putting them in that taxi and keeping our bags together and we are finally ready with the Aho couple in one and the Brooker couple in the other. 

Yuck, our cab smells as if there is a fireplace in the back seat burning rotten wood and the cabbie likes to sing to himself and the race begins. Yes, a race. It seems our cabbies have decided to race to our hotel. Great. We drive and we leave the walled city hoping our hotel is fairly close but we keep driving and we are no longer close and the neighbor looks a little sketchy and even scary. We turn in and it is better - 

This is a resort but we are not convinced but the folks are nice so we head to our room. It is nice and roomy and the grounds are nice and this is going to be OK. We decided to try dinner and minute by minute we are really starting to love this place. Dinner is a winner and we head to bed in a very good mood indeed.