The train ride from Paris to Avignon is something out of a storied picture book. As soon as you move out of the city of lights, you see the beautiful French countryside. You pass quaint little towns and farming communities along the way. Traveling by train is really a romantic experience, even if you are doing it with friends, or family. There is something about the pageantry of traveling by train, finding a spot for the suitcase, the ticket scanning, searching for your car and then the seats, the reading material you bring on board, the watching of the landscape as the train moves. I love long distance train rides.
The three-hour train ride from Gare du Nord, Paris to Avignon was beautiful and super exciting. Long distance train travel is not something I have done in South Africa, so I really enjoyed the train ride to Avignon.
After arriving in Avignon and picking up the car, the next stop was the walled-in city of Avignon. The hotel was situated within the walls of the city. The city felt old and it felt like it was something out of a medieval storybook. It was beautiful. I was amazed how they kept the city walls and the ancient buildings within the city.
Once settled in the city, it was time to explore, and coincidentally there was an arts festival in Avignon called “Festival d’Avignon” which takes place every July. This was amazing and there were art performances in the streets, there were exhibitions, and most things seemed to be free.
Having a car is necessary to get around in these parts of South of France, public transport is not like in the big cities. Also, you don’t want to be limited to bus schedules when exploring the small towns, and markets around these parts.
The market we visited outside of the walled-in city was fantastic. It had everything a market in the South of France in July should have, could have, and that you would ever want it to have. The market had plenty of fresh fruits, vegetables, honey, jars of jam, handmade pottery, and the most amazing roast chicken and potatoes. So of course for lunch, we had roast chicken and potatoes. That free-range chicken remains some of the best chicken I have ever had.
While driving around the South of France one discovers new exciting places that were not part of the plan. Gordes was one such town. It was a town situated on a mountaintop with views of a beautiful valley. Like Avignon, Gordes is an old town that looks like something out of medieval literature. Regal, beautiful, well maintained and has breath-taking views. We spent a couple of hours on this hilltop town, and I want to go back again one day.
One of the things I really wanted to do while in the South of France was wine tasting. As someone who lives a stone throw away from one of the most amazing wine regions in the world, the Western Cape, I obviously wanted to experience some of the wineries in France. Unfortunately, unlike South Africa with a culture of walk-in wine tasting, mostly in the area the wineries weren’t open to tasting or you had to make an appointment. There was one winery that was open. When we went in for a tasting, you could see that they weren’t expecting people, and had to prepare for the tasting right there and then. The tasting was not terribly exciting, but the experience was good. And the winery itself was beautiful.
The time went by very fast in Avignon and it’s surrounding areas. I would like to explore more in this area. I will one day go back; in the meantime, I will live on the memories of my first time in France. From time to time I look at the pictures from that time and I am filled with nostalgia, and I feel so lucky that I have had the opportunity to visit such foreign places that were never part of my radar when I was growing up in Kwazakhele. After Avignon, the road led to Nice, France, and that is a story for another blog post.
