In the last few weeks Carrie and I thought it would be a good idea to start to wind down this trip and plan out where we would depart Europe. It worked out that our best option was to return to London, where we could get the return flight that we wanted. The first step was to start heading north. Europe has several low cost airlines that can take you just about anywhere. We booked a flight on EasyJet from Rome to Lyon, France, as we wanted to tour some of the southern parts of France, starting in Avignon. We had a hectic travel day: Our short flight on EasyJet cost $233 for both of us, including luggage. At the Lyon airport, we caught the Rhone express ($35) to get us to the Lyon central rail station. From there we used our rail pass which brought us to Avignon. Our hotel was right next to the train station, and all the main sites of the city were just a few minutes walk from the hotel.
Avignon
Avignon is another small city with a beautiful and charming old district, filled with typical French bistros and bars. One of our favorite meals was a lunch where we enjoyed the “Plat Du Jour”, which is their plate of the day. They offered a main dish, a glass of wine and a dessert all for one price. In this case it was about $20 per person, a pretty good bargain for high quality dining.
Avignon is most well known for its ancient Palace of the Popes, the fortification and palace that once housed the Papacity residence during the 14th century. We toured the enormous estate and were captivated by some of the frescoes and woodwork that still adorn the walls and ceilings. Our self guided audio/video tour was intriguing as it gave life to how the palace might have looked and operated in those years.
Montpelier
After a coupe of days in Avignon we took the train about an hour south to Montpelier, a city of about 300,000. It is comprised of a large historic district surrounded by a modern metropolis. The city offers an excellent tram system which can get you to just about anywhere in the area. Upon arriving we learned how to use the trams with a simple Google search and downloaded a tram map to help us get around. We were able to take the tram directly from the train station to our the tram stop that was situated right across the street from our hotel.
We stayed at a modern Marriott property not far from the historic part of town. One of its benefits was that it offered a free breakfast, which really helps out budget conscious travelers like us. The hotel was well run with excellent customer service. However, one morning, when we arrived for the buffet breakfast, we were seated at a table for two. Carrie left her purse at the table, as there weren’t that many people in the room just then. After we grabbed a plate of food and came back to the table, someone else had also been seated there, and obviously didn’t notice Carrie’s purse. We simply moved to another table. Soon after, we noticed that the hostesses kept doing the same thing to other diners! They were seating folks at tables where they had already seated people. We also noticed that a couple of times, when people went up to the buffet for more food, the staff would clear off the table before these people returned with their second helpings and proceed to sit new diners there! It was chaos, but it was sure hilarious for us to watch. We couldn’t understand that the staff didn’t grasp how a buffet works.
Pic Saint loup Tour
It seems that there are excellent wines all over the south of France. Carrie and I have toured many wineries over the years, so we wanted the same experience in this Languedoc region. One of this areas wine sub-regions is called Pic Saint Loup, named after a prominent mountain peak. We toured a couple of vineyards, sampled their wines and then enjoyed a tasty lunch at the home of the tour guide. The guide’s mother and wife were the excellent chefs for our lunch and we dined in an intimate courtyard at the back of their home. We had a great time with our small group and tasted some very nice wines.
Tour to Nimes
With our Eurail passes, it is so easy to just jump on a train and visit any of the nearby towns that are reachable by train. I love walking around old Roman ruins. Nimes, is just a half an hour by train from Montpelier, and offers one of the best preserved Roman amphitheaters in France. For a small fee, we were able to walk about the entire ruin and learn about its history and importance for this one time Roman colony.
Next stop: Paris!
Digital Postcards 