It was a sedate start to the day. With check out not until 11 and my train not due to depart until 12:37, I gave myself an extra hour in bed before slowly making my way down to breakfast.
Even so, me being me, I arrived at Gare de Lyon 2 hours early (should have gave myself an extra two hours in bed!).
The train to Avignon was uneventful if a little bit of a novelty. Not just was I on a high speed train but a double decker one to boot. Boris Johnson, if you want to increase train capacity, then forget about HS2, just stick an extra deck on the West Coast Main Line trains!
Upon arrival in Avignon I managed to find a bus that went in the right direction. It stopped just inside the old city walls, which are mostly intact.
As I checked into my hostel I queried about the impact of coronavirus on business. The young employee responded that despite the outbreak not yet having reached this small city, the number of cancellations of bookings for March had been a lot.
After finding my bed I had to make some emergency repairs to my rucksack. A faithful companion of many years it has unfaithfully chosen now to try and quit on me. Alas my work has hopefully managed to raise its pension age by at least a few more months.
I then decided to go for a walk around town. The difference to Paris was immediately noticeable. In the capital everything felt rushed, on high alert from threats of all descriptions. Avignon though reminds me of Lancaster. A small city, sedate, and charming. Here everything feels warmer and not just because I’m now in the south.
Upon returning to the main square after a gander to Avignons famous medieval bridge, the Sun dipped below a cloud and bathed the ancient Papal Palace in golden light. For the first time since coming to France, I stopped and sat down to properly take in the moment. The sky was the perfect shade of blue, the sunlight gave the white stone a perfect shade of yellow, and the rest of the square, though in shadow, took on a pinkish glow from the reflecting light off of the palace walls. The moon, an intense white, ascended above it all. For those five minutes everything was right with the world.
Then the Sun sank behind a cloud and the magic faded. I moved on to get some food before retiring back to the hostel.
All Aboard The Backpacker's Express 