I have again spent my day not taking notes! I had an easy time getting to the train station this morning, as my hostel was right next to the subway station, and I even found a train to Avignon that, like the train to Toulouse, would not get me there that much later than I was originally supposed to have arrived.
I again struck up a conversation with my neighbor -- they are always easy to start but difficult to end -- and so did not see as much of the passing countryside as I would have liked. I know that we passed hills and vineyards, forests and cliffs, and that we passed a castle, some more hill towns, and, later, a couple of calm, turquoise rivers. Nimes had an impressive church and cathedral; it was surreal to have read about it so long ago and to have physically passed through it; and Arles was a backwater, the likes of which I had not seen since visiting St. Pierre des Corps. I will be visiting both Arles and Nimes, as well as the Pont du Gard and Orange, over the next few days. More on that later.
Avignon is the centerpiece of the most beautiful part of France. It is a different kind of beauty from that of Rouen: while Rouen stupefies the visitor with its historical cache, Avignon is flat-out pleasant to visit. One sees part of its protective wall as soon as one steps out of the train station; its tourist information office is dead easy to find; its historic center is small enough to see over the course of an afternoon; and its surroundings are beautiful. Provence, the part of France in which Avignon is located, is known for being hilly, rocky, and rich in lavender, none of which I have so far seen. The city is full of greenery and cafes, has very few cars compared to any other sizable French cities that I have visited (perhaps because of the separation between its old town and the rest of the city), and abuts a river of the same turquoise color as the rivers that I passed to get here. Perhaps because of being relatively quiet, or perhaps because of having so few tall buildings, the old city of Avignon exudes a lightness, a sort of airiness, that I have not felt since I was in Angers. It does not hurt that the city is rich in history, if not quite as much as Rouen: the city is both stimulating and enjoyable to visit.
I have not yet had dinner or bought groceries, the latter of which I will not be able to do until tomorrow, as much of France shuts down on Sunday. Most importantly, though, I have to shower and shave. I ran out of clean clothes today and have been hauling my stinking, sweaty clothing from the past five days with me in my laundry bag; this is going to be, I hope, the biggest haul of wash that I have to do on any given day, as I would hate to have to do this much at once more than once. I have not bothered shaving in days, as I have a tendency to put off doing so when I travel, and I stink to high heaven. I have a great many maps, train schedules, and (most importantly) bus schedules to study for my next few days of travel; since the train strike is likely to continue at least through tomorrow, I will have to find alternate modes of transport to many of the places that I have decided to visit on this leg of my journey. Ironically, I could have arranged a two-hour layover today to see Arles, but the tourist information center was shut down, and, worse yet, the part of the train station that operates day lockers for one's belongings was closed off. It is no matter, though; I am sure to be able to see all of the sights that I have picked out one way or another.
I almost forgot to mention that I saw Carcassonne today! I had originally intended to spend a few hours walking through it before going to Avignon, as it is on the way from Toulouse to Avignon, but, needless to say, I gave up on that idea because of the train strike. Instead, I saw it from the inside of the train, which was not as good as the real thing, but was still plenty impressive. I expect that the interior of the city looks much like those of Nordlingen or Dinkelsbuhl, two walled cities in Bavaria that I visited last year; in any case, I expect to see Derry, a walled city in Northern Ireland, at the end of this trip.
I have had a good time using French over the past few days and have gotten plenty of compliments for it; I do not have too many horror stories to share except for having asked to see the "train horror" instead of the "train schedule" at the train station today. I have made copious use of the phrase "excuse me," either to mean "I apologize for having bumped into or otherwise discomfited you" or "Get the hell out of my way," the latter of which meanings rarely translates. People often seem to say "Pardon" to that end, but I have not yet picked up the habit of using it. I say "I'm fine" to signal that something is an issue and just yesterday learned that the French say "No problem" when they want to say that. I have been frustrated at people's lack of understanding of Russian, as it would be much easier to speak Russian than French, but I did come across a Russian tour group today; I listened to the guide's discussion of the Roman papacy for a few minutes before moving on.
My only other plans for today, now that I have seen Avignon's historical center, are to get cleaned up, get dinner, and spend some time working on my writing. I have a lot of work that I have not completed over the past few days, and I hope to use the coming days to finish it off. Again, working while on vacation is generally enjoyable, as, while one does not get as much done as one would like, wanting to work more than one is doing is much more pleasant than feeling overworked; the joy that one takes in one's work never fades when one has too little time for it. Have a good day!
I again struck up a conversation with my neighbor -- they are always easy to start but difficult to end -- and so did not see as much of the passing countryside as I would have liked. I know that we passed hills and vineyards, forests and cliffs, and that we passed a castle, some more hill towns, and, later, a couple of calm, turquoise rivers. Nimes had an impressive church and cathedral; it was surreal to have read about it so long ago and to have physically passed through it; and Arles was a backwater, the likes of which I had not seen since visiting St. Pierre des Corps. I will be visiting both Arles and Nimes, as well as the Pont du Gard and Orange, over the next few days. More on that later.
Avignon is the centerpiece of the most beautiful part of France. It is a different kind of beauty from that of Rouen: while Rouen stupefies the visitor with its historical cache, Avignon is flat-out pleasant to visit. One sees part of its protective wall as soon as one steps out of the train station; its tourist information office is dead easy to find; its historic center is small enough to see over the course of an afternoon; and its surroundings are beautiful. Provence, the part of France in which Avignon is located, is known for being hilly, rocky, and rich in lavender, none of which I have so far seen. The city is full of greenery and cafes, has very few cars compared to any other sizable French cities that I have visited (perhaps because of the separation between its old town and the rest of the city), and abuts a river of the same turquoise color as the rivers that I passed to get here. Perhaps because of being relatively quiet, or perhaps because of having so few tall buildings, the old city of Avignon exudes a lightness, a sort of airiness, that I have not felt since I was in Angers. It does not hurt that the city is rich in history, if not quite as much as Rouen: the city is both stimulating and enjoyable to visit.
I have not yet had dinner or bought groceries, the latter of which I will not be able to do until tomorrow, as much of France shuts down on Sunday. Most importantly, though, I have to shower and shave. I ran out of clean clothes today and have been hauling my stinking, sweaty clothing from the past five days with me in my laundry bag; this is going to be, I hope, the biggest haul of wash that I have to do on any given day, as I would hate to have to do this much at once more than once. I have not bothered shaving in days, as I have a tendency to put off doing so when I travel, and I stink to high heaven. I have a great many maps, train schedules, and (most importantly) bus schedules to study for my next few days of travel; since the train strike is likely to continue at least through tomorrow, I will have to find alternate modes of transport to many of the places that I have decided to visit on this leg of my journey. Ironically, I could have arranged a two-hour layover today to see Arles, but the tourist information center was shut down, and, worse yet, the part of the train station that operates day lockers for one's belongings was closed off. It is no matter, though; I am sure to be able to see all of the sights that I have picked out one way or another.
I almost forgot to mention that I saw Carcassonne today! I had originally intended to spend a few hours walking through it before going to Avignon, as it is on the way from Toulouse to Avignon, but, needless to say, I gave up on that idea because of the train strike. Instead, I saw it from the inside of the train, which was not as good as the real thing, but was still plenty impressive. I expect that the interior of the city looks much like those of Nordlingen or Dinkelsbuhl, two walled cities in Bavaria that I visited last year; in any case, I expect to see Derry, a walled city in Northern Ireland, at the end of this trip.
I have had a good time using French over the past few days and have gotten plenty of compliments for it; I do not have too many horror stories to share except for having asked to see the "train horror" instead of the "train schedule" at the train station today. I have made copious use of the phrase "excuse me," either to mean "I apologize for having bumped into or otherwise discomfited you" or "Get the hell out of my way," the latter of which meanings rarely translates. People often seem to say "Pardon" to that end, but I have not yet picked up the habit of using it. I say "I'm fine" to signal that something is an issue and just yesterday learned that the French say "No problem" when they want to say that. I have been frustrated at people's lack of understanding of Russian, as it would be much easier to speak Russian than French, but I did come across a Russian tour group today; I listened to the guide's discussion of the Roman papacy for a few minutes before moving on.
My only other plans for today, now that I have seen Avignon's historical center, are to get cleaned up, get dinner, and spend some time working on my writing. I have a lot of work that I have not completed over the past few days, and I hope to use the coming days to finish it off. Again, working while on vacation is generally enjoyable, as, while one does not get as much done as one would like, wanting to work more than one is doing is much more pleasant than feeling overworked; the joy that one takes in one's work never fades when one has too little time for it. Have a good day!
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| Avignon's entire city wall is still standing! |
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