Okay… so we are at the Antibes train station waiting for our high speed train to Avignon, France. Scheduled to arrive on time at 10:54. And at just about that time, a TGV train (hi speed), pulls into the station. (These trains are not marked - meaning we are scheduled to be on Train # 6176, but there is no indication. Just the right platform at the right time is how you are supposed to tell you which train to board.) So, I bet you can tell where this is going. We boarded the train, in the right coach number and began looking for our seats (103 and 104) as the train begins to leave. We can’t find our seats - we ask a passenger if this train is going to Avignon and they said “oui”… so we decided to just take two available seats and wait for the conductor to come by and show us our proper seats.About 20 minutes passes and still no conductor. So I got up and began looking for one, and only found the bar tender. Well, to put an end to this long story… we were on a train to Avignon alright, but on a train that was going to take 4 hours, instead of 2.5! So, at the next town we were able to hop off that train, cross over the tracks and catch OUR train a few minutes later. Yay!
However for some unknown reason, our high speed train was traveling slow often, and we ended up being about one hour late arriving in Avignon. The plan was to rent a car and drive through the wine country, arriving in Arles - a smaller town to the south. Well, being late really wasn’t going to give us enough time, so we hopped a free bus from Avignon to Arles.
The good news was - despite the fact that Arles looked rather yucky on our approach (the newer, outer ring of the city) once we got into the old town, it was very, very cute and authentic. There was even a smaller version of the Roman Colosseum and a Roman Amphitheatre in town. There were sidewalk cafes and bars, shops selling local fair - from tablecloths and aprons to baguettes and fruit and wine.
We had a nice dinner overlooking the Colosseum and to our surprise, there was a concert that evening in the ancient Amphitheatre - which we decided to attend - which only cost us 3 Euro. All this was just steps from our hotel. A very nice afternoon and evening to a day that began a bit crazy.
Oh yeah, Arles is where Van Gogh lived for awhile, and we went on part of this Van Gogh walk, seeing the spots where he painted several of is masterpieces.
A fun town and a fun day!
