In a burst of wanderlust-induced spontaneity, three Erasmus friends and I booked a train trip to Avignon for the next day. We rose at dawn to walk into the centre of Aix to catch a taxi to the Gare TGV, which is 13km outside of the city. From there we got on the TGV to Avignon, which was only a 25 minute journey, but once again, the TGV station is outside the city, 6km away.
As it was quite a mild morning, we walked in to the ancient city centre, taking us just over an hour. While most of this was along main roads, we had a lovely view of the river for the last leg of the walk before we went through the medieval walls.
Tired after the early morning and walk, we grabbed breakfast in a cafe and watched a farce unfold around us three times of tourists trying to eat their takeaways in the cafe without having paid the eating in price.
I wanted us to be able to wander around the food markets in Les Halles before they closed, so we headed straight there to begin with. As expected of a French food market, there was an array of local vegetables (including eye-wateringly large amounts of wild mushrooms), fresh meat and fish stalls, herbs, spices, wine-tastings, olives, bakeries, patisseries. At that point I sincerely regretted having already eaten.
Some men in traditional dress were singing inside for a short while, as this year marks the 120th anniversary of Les Halles. We were delighted to find (while nibbling on a sample of bread and tapenade) that there was at least one Frenchman who was happy that some English tourists were speaking French to him! From here we walked on to the Palais des Papes, a medieval Gothic fortress where the popes lived in the fourteenth century. Upon entry we were slightly confused – not to mention glad – that the staff were giving out free entry tickets.
The architecture of the Palais was very imposing. Judging from the contrasting states of clean and not clean in various exterior parts, it has been undergoing some restoration work to enhance the light colour of the sandstone. Unfortunately, the Palais was looted during the French Revolution and there are few remains of any frescos or tiling, let alone original furnishings. One of the rooms towards the end has been repurposed as a gallery of quite harrowing photography and art. We did get a fantastic view of the city from the roof, though.
On our journey to find the Pont d’Avignon we passed by several souvenir shops where I bought a couple of postcards with which to further decorate my desk. After we’d been to see the Pont from the river (rather than paying to go on it in the rain), we enjoyed having a wander around the streets. It was a special weekend where all shops had their wares on the street and were offering hefty discounts on their designer products. We came across a environmental protest about the use of pesticides, rather ironically the afternoon after World Climate Strike day. Feeling quite tired from all our walking, street-browsing and the now increasing rain, we popped in a little cafe off one of the main streets for a sit down and refreshment.
Rather than walk all the way back to the TGV station in the rain, we made our way to the much closer SNCF Gare Avignon Centre. The train from here to Avignon TGV was only 1.20, and took five minutes.
It was a great day trip out with some lovely new friends, and we’re already thinking about planning our next one!
A plus,
Zoe x
An Aixpat-en-Provence 