En France

Voyage c'ect Vivre!

Hello! Kait here checking in to let you know about our time in France!

8/23 Barcelona -> Montpellier -> Avignon

Quick packing, breakfast and checkout, haunted down the hill through security and onto the train! I happened to take Dramamine which nicked me out the entire 2 hours. At one point we had to transfer trains, all I know is I woke up abruptly to Alli saying everyone is getting off... Running after her down the stairs... Leaving the station, then realizing the train we wanted was right next to ours..... Ugh! Back through security and onto the correct train... And immediately I passed out again.

We arrived in Montpellier and ordered some food at a little sandwich shop. I was able to understand the seller when he asked Alli if she wanted her food hot or cold! We are in a small park next to the station, it was lovely inn the shade. Have we mentioned how HOT it is everywhere? After eating we wandered, finding a cemetery with a kind old man who offered us water and toilettes. We kept asking people if there were lockers, but finally found out (in the tourist office) that there were none in that city :( Oh well. We wandered and enjoyed everything Kait and Alli style and eventually wound our way back to the station we stopped for some cafe au lait. Newly caffeinated, we boarded the train to Avignon

Our hostess in Avignon was Adeline, we met her through couchsurfing.com. She was absolutely amazing and made our short time very special! Adeline met us at the train station with the traditional French greeting (3 kisses on the cheeks) and took us to her charming apartment . There we were able to shower and place our bags down. Newly refreshed, we headed out on the town. Adeline winded us through the backstreets and alleys of Avignon to a restaurant L'Offset. Dinner was amazing! Alli had the caramelized orange duck with mashed potatoes, I had the salmon salad, and Adeline had the sampler salad. I will attach pictures when I can! Post dinner we walked to the Palace of the Popes and all around the city, chatting and taking in the scene. Then we met her friend Davy at a Salsa Club! They had Salsa lessons and then a free for all. we all had a great time dancing, taking pictures, having a couple cocktails, and laughing....a lot. Davy was kind enough to drive us all home (factoid:the French drive on the same side of the street as Americans) we big Adeline Merci Et Bon Nuit! and fell asleep on her couch.


8/24 Avignon ->????? -> Marseilles -> Nice

Oooops! We all slept in, and Adeline was late for work. Did I mention that this petite blond French girl is a nuclear engineer, and plays rugby, lol who would have thought! We all had a quick cup of coffee on her cute balcony before Adeline had to leave us for work. She was kind enough to leave us the key so we could shower before hitting the road. We strolled through Avignon one more time before boarding the train to Marseilles.... Well, we tried to. Apparently we boarded the opposite train and traveled several hours towards Lyon. Realizing that we must be lost we swiftly exited the train and pleaded with an attendant to help. Eventually we caught the returning train back towards Avignon/Marseilles.

At Marseilles we were exhausted and hungry! But the restaurants don't serve food between 2 and 7. We ate at the "Meet and Go" and I charged my I pad a very sneaky way... (Alli, please insert that pic u took)

It was 2 hours until the next train, and we boarded nice and early to make sure we were in the right spot. Then all of a sudden the conductor entered the car andnspoke in rapid French... Something about our baggage. Luckily for us a French girl who sat near us, Anna Tara, knew English and asked if we wanted her to translate.we soon discovered that there was a bomb threat and that the police were taking us all off the train one by one and searching our luggage. Anna also said she thought it was drugs that they were looking for. We all exited the train when told to. The police man seemed to sigh at all my pockets in my pack, he also seemed very intrigued with a tightly knotted black bag I had in the bottom....my dirty laundry, lol. Alli and I both passed inspection. The French police were quite efficient and had us back on the train as soon as they could. Alli and I were so grateful for Anna, since she stuck with us, translating, and keeping us posted.

Some 2 hours later we finally arrive in Nice. Exhausted, we purchased some rum and strawberry-raspberry juice and trotted to the hostel to relax and blow off some steam. At 3am we were the last up in the common room, uploading pictures and trying to charge every electronics we had. But tiredness won out, and we gladly marched up to our 8 bed dorm room and fell asleep.

Message of the day:"life does not go as expected, but your ability to accept the present and make the most of it determines your level of happiness"

Think about it
<3 Kait and Alli