Welcome to Southern France
13th June - Destination Marsielle
Most of tuesday was taken up by making my way to the airport - tubes and trains. I wasted my time at the airport by eating McDonalds for lunch. Such a bad move, I dont know why I always eat McDonalds at the airport because it never satisfies me. I think it is just out of convenience. The flight to Marsielle wasnt long. I took a shuttle from the airport to the rail station and got to experience rush hour traffic. I got to see wonderful views when coming into the city. Marsielle is a Port town with a huge port! The sea looked beautiful, and high on a hill was a church looking over everything. Mum and dad met me at the station. It was so great to see them again. We took my luggage back to their hotel and went for a walk into town. Marsielle as a city is quite dity and quite noisy, but there is a lovely atmosphere around the waterfront where there are lots of restaurants with specials to entice you. We had dinner at one restaurant where we got a 3 course meal for only 12euro! Bargain! I had another steak. The only bad thing about the evening is that we had to shift tables three times because everyone was smoking, and I couldnt breathe due to my hayfever.
14th June - Destination Orange
On Wednesday morning we went to the internet cafe, then made our way to the train station. We waited there for a while, eating lunch, then finally boarded a train. I was glad to escape a scary guy who was following me around the station and blowing smoke in my face. There really are some looneys who like to hang around train stations in Europe, or so I have noticed.
I really liked Orange. Mum liked it too - but mostly because of the dutch ancestory. We stayed in Orange until the friday. We stayed at this nice hotel, and spent our time there wandering around streets, eating in the square, and going to the internet cafe. On the friday mum and I walked up this hill to overlook the town. It was hard to find the way up because the side of the hill holds a huge classic antique roman amphitheatre - the best preserved stone theatre. The theatre is huge and was undergoing some huge reconstruction. In Orange I also got to see the Arc de Triomphe, similar to victory arches that I used to learn about in Classics.
15th June - Destination Avignon
On the thursday we visited Avignon for the day. Apparently it is famous for its song about the bridge Sur Le Ponte. It is an amazing town, and it was amazing weather. We spent the day trying to resolve conflicts between my parents and I about whether we should make a schedule and go see as much as we can, or whether to just 'follow our noses'. We visited the palace of the popes and ate lunch on the stairs. We walked up around the palace where there were some stunning views of the river that runs through the city. We visited the bridge Sur Le Ponte. But instead of paying to go on the bridge, we sat on the river banks and read our books in the shade. It was a good way to escape the heat of the day.
16th June - Destination Villefranche
Today we took the train to Villefranche. There is not much to say about Villefranche. We are just using it as a stopover before we start our Canal Du Midi Trip tomorrow. The funny thing is that it really does resemble a stop over town, kind of like Culverden. Its the whole 'one street then you're through' thing that does it. The hotel we are staying in is really cool. It has a huge window with shutters, with a fantastic view overlooking the countryside. The thing i love about houses here in France is the shutters. But they are quite a barrier - they are always shut. People disappear into their houses and shut the shutters to keep the heat out. Towns seem like ghost towns, especially in the evenings. We went out for dinner this evening and there was nobody about.
Most of tuesday was taken up by making my way to the airport - tubes and trains. I wasted my time at the airport by eating McDonalds for lunch. Such a bad move, I dont know why I always eat McDonalds at the airport because it never satisfies me. I think it is just out of convenience. The flight to Marsielle wasnt long. I took a shuttle from the airport to the rail station and got to experience rush hour traffic. I got to see wonderful views when coming into the city. Marsielle is a Port town with a huge port! The sea looked beautiful, and high on a hill was a church looking over everything. Mum and dad met me at the station. It was so great to see them again. We took my luggage back to their hotel and went for a walk into town. Marsielle as a city is quite dity and quite noisy, but there is a lovely atmosphere around the waterfront where there are lots of restaurants with specials to entice you. We had dinner at one restaurant where we got a 3 course meal for only 12euro! Bargain! I had another steak. The only bad thing about the evening is that we had to shift tables three times because everyone was smoking, and I couldnt breathe due to my hayfever.
14th June - Destination Orange
On Wednesday morning we went to the internet cafe, then made our way to the train station. We waited there for a while, eating lunch, then finally boarded a train. I was glad to escape a scary guy who was following me around the station and blowing smoke in my face. There really are some looneys who like to hang around train stations in Europe, or so I have noticed.
I really liked Orange. Mum liked it too - but mostly because of the dutch ancestory. We stayed in Orange until the friday. We stayed at this nice hotel, and spent our time there wandering around streets, eating in the square, and going to the internet cafe. On the friday mum and I walked up this hill to overlook the town. It was hard to find the way up because the side of the hill holds a huge classic antique roman amphitheatre - the best preserved stone theatre. The theatre is huge and was undergoing some huge reconstruction. In Orange I also got to see the Arc de Triomphe, similar to victory arches that I used to learn about in Classics.
15th June - Destination Avignon
On the thursday we visited Avignon for the day. Apparently it is famous for its song about the bridge Sur Le Ponte. It is an amazing town, and it was amazing weather. We spent the day trying to resolve conflicts between my parents and I about whether we should make a schedule and go see as much as we can, or whether to just 'follow our noses'. We visited the palace of the popes and ate lunch on the stairs. We walked up around the palace where there were some stunning views of the river that runs through the city. We visited the bridge Sur Le Ponte. But instead of paying to go on the bridge, we sat on the river banks and read our books in the shade. It was a good way to escape the heat of the day.
16th June - Destination Villefranche
Today we took the train to Villefranche. There is not much to say about Villefranche. We are just using it as a stopover before we start our Canal Du Midi Trip tomorrow. The funny thing is that it really does resemble a stop over town, kind of like Culverden. Its the whole 'one street then you're through' thing that does it. The hotel we are staying in is really cool. It has a huge window with shutters, with a fantastic view overlooking the countryside. The thing i love about houses here in France is the shutters. But they are quite a barrier - they are always shut. People disappear into their houses and shut the shutters to keep the heat out. Towns seem like ghost towns, especially in the evenings. We went out for dinner this evening and there was nobody about.
posted by simone marie at 4:35 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home