Anyway, we ended up getting out of class a bit early on Friday (at noontime instead of 13:45) so I had plenty of time to return to the apartment and deposit my stuff from class before our 15:24 train to Arles. After that, I spent a fair amount of time trekking around the city with my overnight bag trying to remember how to get to Gare de Lyon Part-Dieu (the train station). Eventually I made it to the café where Kelly and Amanda, my fellow travelers, were sitting outside having lunch with some of our classmates. I bought a pizza from the boulangerie next door only to discover that it was not vegetarian (I thought it tasted like ham; the meat-eaters in the group who ate it after I offered it to them told me it was salmon. I haven't eaten meat for like 8 years, though, so what do I know?) Anyway, I finally managed to get quiche, a lemon tart, and some Orangina from across the street, so it all worked out okay.
We caught the train to Arles with no problems. The countryside on the way down was beautiful - picturesque towns perched on hills by the river, newly-planted fields stretching out to the horizon, clumps of barely-green trees flying past the windows. We arrived in Arles three hours later and were immediately thrown into the midst of Feria, or the Easter Festival. Arles goes absolutely nuts during this time, with extra bullfights, a carnival, lots of music, and tons of food. We walked around and immediately saw the ancient Roman arena where bullfights are still held today. It was smack-dab in the middle of the city and pretty un-missable:
The ancient Roman arena located in the center of ArlesAfter that, we set off to look for a restaurant Kelly had read about as being vegetarian/vegan-friendly (a big draw for us, since I'm vegetarian, Kelly's vegan, and Amanda's open-minded). We finally found it after circling around for quite awhile (which ended up being a common theme of our time in Arles). All the restaurants were cooking giant pans of paella outside in the street, and ours was no exception; the man cooking offered us some little shellfish from the paella, but what with our dietary quirks Amanda was the only one who took him up on his offer. We got dinner (and I got my first sangria - it was very different from what I'd expected, as there was cinnamon in it) and ate it sitting on the wall of a fountain in the square. Afterwards, we walked around Arles for awhile, admiring the scenery (gardens, churches, carnival, Roman theatre ruins) and cheerfully embracing the sketchiness ("Americans! You are welcome!" - random guy in group full of random guys) until we almost got pickpocketed (we think), at which point we didn't enjoy it quite so much.
At any rate, around 8:30 or 9:00 we started to search for the youth hostel we were staying at for the night, and our search took us past Les Alyscamps, an old burial ground just outside of Arles. There was a large crowd gathered at the gates, which was a little out of the ordinary because Les Alyscamps closes at night. We were standing nearby wondering what was going on when a woman came up to us and explained half in French, half in English that they were about to pray a vigil on account of its being Good Friday. She invited us to join them, which we debated for a little while, not wanting to be disrespectful and intrude, and also not wanting to have to leave early and interrupt the procession. When we explained that the curfew for the hostel was 11, the woman told us that we could leave early if we needed to, and that all we had to do was tell her and she'd open the gate for us and let us out. "It'll be an interesting experience," we decided, and we joined the group. It was pretty cool. We sang with the rest of the group and there were readings about the Passion as we prayed the Stations of the Cross. We left about five stations in to get to the hostel, and the man who ended up letting us out pointed us in the right direction.
We made it to the hostel, got our sheets, and made up our beds. Towels for the shower cost 50 cents, so we actually split one towel between the three of us, each paying a grand total of about 17 cents (yay for penny-pinching!). The room at the hostel was actually not bad at all, and we had it to ourselves for awhile until two Italian girls joined us. They went out again almost immediately though, so we had the room all to ourselves until we went to bed.
Our room at l'auberge de jeunesses (the youth hostel)The next morning we woke up very early in the hopes that we could catch the bus to Le Parc Ornithologique de Pont de Gau, a bird park in the Camargue (the region of France around the Rhône river delta). We ran literally all the way across the city to the train station (where the bus supposedly left from) only to read on a sign that the stop was now in front of the Monoprix (a supermarket chain) down the street. We ran to the Monoprix, where another lady waiting for the bus told us we wanted to be back at the train station. We said no, we'd just come from there. The bus driver then told us we wanted to be at Clemencau, in the middle of the city. We headed for Clemencau and promptly got lost and had to ask some street-sweepers for directions. They were really nice and just walked us there. But because it was Feria, the Clemencau stop was closed. We finally figured out that the stop we wanted was actually only about a 5 minute walk from our hostel, and that we had just run around for half an hour for nothing. Needless to say, we missed the bus, but it ended up being all right, since we were up early enough to spend all morning at the open-air market (which only takes place on Saturdays). We got some breakfast and strolled around, browsing and occasionally buying things. I bought the best-smelling tea in the world from a spice-and-tea stand.
Tea at the market. The one I bought is in the front row, six from the left (almost out of frame). It's green and blue and awesome.After the market, we visited a few of the sights in Arles, including Espace Van Gogh, a former hospital where the artist stayed that is now a museum dedicated to his work (I think that's the story, anyway), the church and cloister of St. Tromphime, a couple of art galleries, and the remains of some Roman public baths. We got some ice cream at a place called Soleileis, which Amanda's guidebook had recommended as having the most interesting flavors in Arles. (I got "fagoli" - honey, nougatine, and olive oil. It was pretty good, too.) They had sorbet, too, so Kelly was able to have some dessert as well. After that, Kelly and I dropped Amanda off at the Corrida (bullfight) and went to a café, where we sat for two hours resting our feet, doing some reading (Kelly), and taking advantage of the free wifi (me, using Kelly's ipod). We arrived to pick up Amanda from the Corrida just in time to watch the dead bull get dragged out of the arena by its horns (ewwwww) and to see the bullfighters leave the arena being begged for autographs by adoring fans, which led us to wonder: what do bullfighters do when they're not bullfighting? They have celebrity status so I'm sure they make excellent money - definitely enough to live on - but, as Kelly said, "Do they just go around Europe traveling from ancient arena to ancient arena?" It's a mystery.
We picked up Amanda, got food, walked around, got more food, and then went back to the hostel for the night, exhausted from our early morning. We went to bed before midnight and got up early (once again) to go to the Camargue. This time we actually made it to the bus in time, and we arrived at the bird park about 20 minutes before it opened. We spent the time walking around the fairly deserted stretch of road on which the park was situated, watching some water birds in the surrounding marsh lands (we'd already seen some flamingos - which are native to the Camargue - from the bus) and watching a dog "herd" horses on a nearby farm. We got into the park just as it opened and started walking. We weren't very far along the trail when the man walking up ahead of us whistled and yelled something to us in French. We couldn't figure out what was going on until we realized he was trying to show us this:
Mystery creature at the bird park.
I thought it was a muskrat but that idea was soundly denounced by everyone else present (including some British tourists), since they all said it was some sort of beaver. While we were watching, another one jumped right out of the water and ambled right past us, not seeming to care that we were there. It was pretty cool.
Also cool were the flamingos. I'd expected to only see a few, and probably from a distance, but they were EVERYWHERE, and they were LOUD.
Me and only a few of the flamingos we saw.
We went through maybe only one-third or half the park, since we really wanted to get to Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer (on the Mediterranean) before we continued on to Avignon. So after some debate about how best to get there (there was no bus during the time we wanted), we started walking. We had been assured by the woman in the tourism office in Arles that the walk was "very easy," only about 2 kilometers. WRONG. The walk from the park to Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer is actually 5 kilometers (just over three miles), which gave rise to all kinds of other adventures. Upon fianlly arriving, we headed straight for the Mediterranean, which was a bit underwhelming in the the clouds and drizzle, although on the beach we did get to chat a bit with an American couple from Wisconsin (and I put my feet in the Mediterranean!)
It was a tad chilly. And there was a spot on my camera lens, apparently.
We walked around a little and got lunch at one of the many restaurants near the sea before catching the bus back to Arles to get the train to Avignon. And, I kid you not, literally as soon as we got to the bus stop the sun came out and the town was bright and sunny and beautiful. I bet the Mediterranean wasn't underwhelming then.
We arrived in Arles in late afternoon and promptly discovered that the YMCA where we had reservations was waaaayyy outside of town. In lieu of trekking all the way there/being a slave to the bus schedule, we decided instead to just fork over a few Euros and stay at a cheap hotel in town. We found one, Hôtel du Park, a block or two away from the tourism office, and, not feeling like running around comparing prices, just booked a room there. (75 € altogether for the three of us - not bad.) We were a little concerned about what the quality of the room would be, since the reception area was rather dark and smelled like stale cigarettes, but the room was actually very cute and bright. We dropped off our stuff, changed into clothes that were more weather-appropriate (it had warmed up a lot since the morning), and headed out into Avignon. The first thing we did was visit the Palais des Papes (Popes' Palace), which was, to say the least, intense:
Not a very good picture, but to conserve my camera battery I'd shut off the viewer screen, which made centering, etc. pretty difficult.
View of Avignon from the top of the Palais des Papes
We picked up Amanda, got food, walked around, got more food, and then went back to the hostel for the night, exhausted from our early morning. We went to bed before midnight and got up early (once again) to go to the Camargue. This time we actually made it to the bus in time, and we arrived at the bird park about 20 minutes before it opened. We spent the time walking around the fairly deserted stretch of road on which the park was situated, watching some water birds in the surrounding marsh lands (we'd already seen some flamingos - which are native to the Camargue - from the bus) and watching a dog "herd" horses on a nearby farm. We got into the park just as it opened and started walking. We weren't very far along the trail when the man walking up ahead of us whistled and yelled something to us in French. We couldn't figure out what was going on until we realized he was trying to show us this:
Mystery creature at the bird park.I thought it was a muskrat but that idea was soundly denounced by everyone else present (including some British tourists), since they all said it was some sort of beaver. While we were watching, another one jumped right out of the water and ambled right past us, not seeming to care that we were there. It was pretty cool.
Also cool were the flamingos. I'd expected to only see a few, and probably from a distance, but they were EVERYWHERE, and they were LOUD.
Me and only a few of the flamingos we saw.We went through maybe only one-third or half the park, since we really wanted to get to Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer (on the Mediterranean) before we continued on to Avignon. So after some debate about how best to get there (there was no bus during the time we wanted), we started walking. We had been assured by the woman in the tourism office in Arles that the walk was "very easy," only about 2 kilometers. WRONG. The walk from the park to Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer is actually 5 kilometers (just over three miles), which gave rise to all kinds of other adventures. Upon fianlly arriving, we headed straight for the Mediterranean, which was a bit underwhelming in the the clouds and drizzle, although on the beach we did get to chat a bit with an American couple from Wisconsin (and I put my feet in the Mediterranean!)
It was a tad chilly. And there was a spot on my camera lens, apparently.We arrived in Arles in late afternoon and promptly discovered that the YMCA where we had reservations was waaaayyy outside of town. In lieu of trekking all the way there/being a slave to the bus schedule, we decided instead to just fork over a few Euros and stay at a cheap hotel in town. We found one, Hôtel du Park, a block or two away from the tourism office, and, not feeling like running around comparing prices, just booked a room there. (75 € altogether for the three of us - not bad.) We were a little concerned about what the quality of the room would be, since the reception area was rather dark and smelled like stale cigarettes, but the room was actually very cute and bright. We dropped off our stuff, changed into clothes that were more weather-appropriate (it had warmed up a lot since the morning), and headed out into Avignon. The first thing we did was visit the Palais des Papes (Popes' Palace), which was, to say the least, intense:
Not a very good picture, but to conserve my camera battery I'd shut off the viewer screen, which made centering, etc. pretty difficult.We toured the palace and got dinner afterwards after searching for a vegetarian restaurant Kelly had heard about. (It was unfortunately closed due to its being Easter.) We ate at another place in town and then went to a place called Festival des Glaces to get tea and chocolates (Kelly), some hot chocolate (Amanda), and chocolate ice cream (me). We chilled there for awhile before going back to the hotel room, where we read and did homework for awhile before going to bed early.
We slept in this morning (until like 9:00...heaven!) and then headed out to a couple museums - the Musée Lapidaire, a museum of archaeological finds from Greece, Egypt, and the Roman Empire, and then to Musée Calvet, an art museum located in a renovated 18th-century mansion. After that, we visited the bridge commonly known as the Pont d'Avignon, which was largely destroyed by floods in the 1600s. As per French tradition, we sang the Pont d'Avignon song and danced on the bridge, despite the fact that we were all wearing skirts and the wind was super-intense.
A few minutes before setting foot on the Pont d'Avignon. You can get an idea of how windy it was by looking at our hair. (Well, my hair.)
We slept in this morning (until like 9:00...heaven!) and then headed out to a couple museums - the Musée Lapidaire, a museum of archaeological finds from Greece, Egypt, and the Roman Empire, and then to Musée Calvet, an art museum located in a renovated 18th-century mansion. After that, we visited the bridge commonly known as the Pont d'Avignon, which was largely destroyed by floods in the 1600s. As per French tradition, we sang the Pont d'Avignon song and danced on the bridge, despite the fact that we were all wearing skirts and the wind was super-intense.
A few minutes before setting foot on the Pont d'Avignon. You can get an idea of how windy it was by looking at our hair. (Well, my hair.)After the Pont d'Avignon, we ate some lunch and got some more ice cream before catching the train back to Lyon at 16:12. And now I'm back in my room, in Lyon, wearing clothes that I haven't been wearing, in some form or another, for the past three days. (It's lovely.) I really do need to be getting down to work on my journal response, though, so I'd better wrap this up. Until tomorrow (which is my birthday, I just realized now), au revoir!
View of Avignon from the top of the Palais des Papes
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