“Sur le Pont d’Avignon
L’on y danse, l’on y danse
Sur le Pont d’Avignon
L’on y danse tous en rond.“
(Traditional French song)
Shortly before I went with my wife on our trip round Poland in October 2022, I decided that I would try to fit in one more journey before the end of the year. Planning to travel in November, I thought it best to head somewhere south to try to catch the warmth. I also realised that the cost of living crisis would affect the whole of Europe, not just Britain, and that the wave of transport strikes that Britain was starting to experience were likely to be replicated across the continent. Therefore, I tried to devise a route with some contingency – for example, giving myself days to catch up if services were not running or to have possible bypass routes to get round strike affected countries. Also, I booked all my hotels on on the basis that they would be cancellable at no cost up to a few days before my scheduled arrival.
Sadly, not long after we returned from Poland we suffered a family bereavement, which I thought meant I would not be able to travel – but my wife insisted that I took the opportunity to go. Additionally, my forecast of transport strikes proved to be correct, as in the week before I was due to depart there were rail strikes affecting the UK, France, Italy and Greece – all the countries I would be travelling through. I was extremely fortunate that none happened at a time to disrupt my plans.
Day 1 – Tuesday 15th November 2022 – London to Avignon
I arrived at St Pancras in good time to get some breakfast prior to my 0901 Eurostar departure. These days, Eurostar are recommending arriving 90 minutes before departure, which in my experience seems unnecessary, so I joined the queue for the gates at about 8am. The queue was not long, but it moved quite slowly, as there appeared to be a bottleneck in going through security. Passport control, however, was quick since travelling on my Irish EU passport meant that I could skip the queues for the manned French passport booths, which now have to stamp British passports, and use the queue-less EU e-gates instead.
I actually had a ticket to Brussels for that morning, even though I was only planning to travel as far as Lille. The logic for this was that there was no difference in price between the two destinations, but had the French railways been on strike I would have an alternative route to get to Italy (via Belgium, Germany and Switzerland). Once I was in the departure area, I checked the realtimetrains website which informed me that both my 0901 train to Brussels and the 0830 to Paris were now sitting in their platforms, which looked favourable for a prompt departure. However, long before there were any announcements, it became apparent that there were problems, as there was no sign of the earlier Paris departure starting boarding 20 minutes before it was due to leave, which would be expected, given that it was in the platform. It was eventually announced as being ready to board at about the time it was supposed to depart, but I noticed that the platform was the one where the later Brussels train was sitting. It appeared (not that there was any information provided by Eurostar) that the Paris train had developed a fault and they were using the train originally intended to go to Brussels instead. This meant that there was no train to take me to Lille until one arrived from Paris at around 0910. Similar shuffling down the order was happening to all departures that morning until they could cancel the 1100 train to Brussels, presumably because that was the least heavily booked.
As a result of these delays the departure area became progressively more full, so that there were not enough seats for everyone. My last couple of experiences of travelling by Eurostar have not been good, and while I much prefer travelling by train than flying, my recent flights on Ryanair have been punctual and hassle free, whereas the more expensive Eurostar trains have not. We eventually left St Pancras 40 minutes late, which still gave me enough time for my connection in Lille, but not sufficient leeway not to cause me anxiety every time my train slowed or stopped at a signal.
I was relieved when I arrived at Lille Europe at 1210, still 40 minutes late. As expected, there were no ticket checks on leaving the station, so having a ticket to Brussels was not an issue. I had scheduled contingency for my connection, which was departing from the nearby Lille Flandres station, but rather than having time for a leisurely stroll round the centre of Lille, I just managed to dash to the Grand Place before going to Lille Flandres for my next train. As I had spent a couple of days in Lille in 2018, I was familiar with where I needed to go.
My train to Avignon was due to depart at 1301. It was the first time I had travelled on an Ouigo service, which is SNCF’s answer to budget airlines – having cheap fares, but also many of the irritations of budget airlines, such as charging extra for bags or a power socket at your seat, and asking you to check in 30 minutes in advance of departure. The trains have no first class nor a buffet car, the tickets are strictly non refundable, and you can’t use any discount cards (such as my Carte Advantage Senior) to buy them. But a five hour high speed journey across the whole of France for €27 is a good deal.
On arriving at Lille Flandres, I was unable to access the platform from which my train was due to depart and there was a large crush of people waiting in front of the barriers. Combined with the earlier Eurostar delays, I was beginning to think that it was not my day. The reason for the problem was an abandoned bag and the barriers were eventually opened five minutes before the scheduled departure at 1301. On the platform there were a number of armed police surrounding the offending bag, presumably to ensure that it did not try to escape. I considered taking a photo, but after the trouble I got into inadvertently photographing a policeman when passing through Brussels earlier this year, I though better of it.
Despite the late boarding, the train left only a couple of minutes late. It was a double-decker train and I had a seat upstairs. My carriage was fairly empty throughout the journey and I found my first experience of Ouigo quite pleasant. The two minute delay was soon caught up and we skirted Paris and headed south. After passing through Lyon, the edge of the French Alps could be seen through the late afternoon gloom.
The train arrived promptly at Avignon TGV station on the outskirts of the city at 1710. Unfortunately, this was two minutes after a train to the centre of Avignon was due to depart. I had hoped the TGV might have been a couple of minutes early or the connecting train a couple of minutes late, but it was not so. The next train to Avignon Centre was at 1738, after the TGV from Paris had also arrived. The local train was on time and just five minutes later it arrived in Avignon Centre – almost exactly seven hours after I had left St Pancras.
My hotel was a chain hotel next to the station. Although the staff were friendly and helpful, the quality of the room was at the lower end of what you would expect from such an establishment, being small and rather basic. I was entitled to a free welcome drink, which I had before going out to find dinner. Rather than just the small glass of standard beer normally offered as a free drink, I was given a half litre of Kronenbourg and a bowl of nibbles. For dinner I went to the centre of the old town within the city walls. There I found a good restaurant where I had a coarse pate to start, followed by entrecôte steak and chips, with a carafe of red wine to drink, which went down very well after my day of travelling.
Day 2 – Wednesday 16th November 2022 – Avignon to Nîmes
I didn’t bother with breakfast in the hotel, so set off to explore Avignon more thoroughly, as I had had only a little look round in the dark the previous night on my way to and from dinner. I walked through the area enclosed by the city walls to reach the River Rhône and admire the famous truncated Pont d’Avignon.
The song Sur le Pont d’Avignon was an old folk song (originally sous not sur – the dancing was under not on the bridge), but the current version of it became popular after being included in a musical produced in Canada in the 19th century. Given the song, I found it quite amusing that right next to the Bridge is the Conservatoire de Danse. When access to the bridge opened at 10am I walked along it with an audio-guide telling me about its history and visited the chapel on the bridge. The Pont Saint-Bénézet (to give it its correct title) was first constructed in the 13th century, replacing an earlier wooden bridge. However, the city could not afford the costs of keeping it in good repair and when part of it was washed away in floods in the 17th century it was not rebuilt.
Avignon, rather than Rome, was the seat of popes from 1309 to 1376 following a dispute between the papacy and Philip IV of France resulting in the new French Pope Clement V being based in Avignon. So my next stop was the the Palais des Papes for which I had bought a combined ticket with one for the bridge. On arrival I was given a tablet computer, which you could use in each room of the palace to get further information and see how it would have looked in the 14th century. The Palais des Papes is a large complex of buildings, which you can explore on two floors.
You can visit 25 rooms, including the pope’s chamber and the hall where papal conclaves were held. The final room was hosting a special exhibition of photographs from the Amazon region. While I was looking at these photographs I received a notification on my SNCF app to tell me that the train I intended to catch at 1335 to leave Avignon had been cancelled. There was a gap of a couple of hours after my cancelled train until the next train to Nîmes, so instead, since there was still time, I decided to catch the earlier 1215 train. This meant that rather than a leisurely stroll for a last explore of Avignon, possibly buying some postcards to write on the train, instead I had a brisk walk from the Palais des Papes to the station.
The 1215 train was on time and arrived in Nîmes Centre under half an hour later. It was just a short walk from the station to the centre of Nîmes. Nîmes is the city with probably the most Roman remains outside Italy, including an Arena which is still used for events to this day.
I chose first to visit the Maison Carrée, a well preserved Roman Temple on the north side of the city centre. As this shut for lunch and did not reopen until 2pm, I took the opportunity to visit a supermarket to stock up on some supplies. The person to open up the Maison Carrée arrived a bit late, so there was a small gathering of people waiting for admission just after 2pm. The interior of the temple was unadorned and had a small exhibition about its history – to be be honest, the exterior of the building is far more impressive than the interior, so I wouldn’t have missed much (and saved myself €6) had I not waited for it to reopen.
I then went to the Musée de la Romanité, Nîmes’ archaeological museum, which first opened in 2018 in its own specially designed futuristic building. The museum was excellent, focussing mainly on the Roman era, but also with sections on the pre-Roman and medieval periods . It was spread over three floors and I had an audio-guide to provide information. The staff were very helpful, pro-actively approaching me to see if I had any questions. I spent over two hours in the museum leaving just before 5pm.
On the way back to my hotel near the station I called in at a post office to purchase some stamps for the postcards I had bought earlier. There was a long queue for the counter dealing with postal matters, so the clerk at the banking counter summoned me over. However, he seemed unsure how to issue stamps for postcards to England and kept calling over to his colleagues at the postal counter asking them what to to do. In retrospect, I think he charged me about twice the going rate and actually sold me a barcode sticker for a trackable service – nonetheless, I later found out that one of my postcards was never delivered and checking the tracking number, it just says it was received by the French postal service, but nothing thereafter.
That evening I went back into the centre of Nîmes to find dinner. I chose a small bar restaurant where I had cream cheese with peppers to start, followed by a lamb ‘brick’ (minced lamb and vegetables in filo pastry) served with a tomato sauce and some local cheese to finish with. In an effort to drink less, rather than having a carafe of wine, I decided to order wine by the glass. However, my plan was thwarted, as when I came to pay the bill the proprietor just filled up my glass again for free, so I ended up drinking most of a bottle anyway.
Day 3 – Thursday 17th November 2022 – Nîmes to Nice
After breakfast in the hotel, I set off to walk the short distance to Nîmes station to catch the 0923 train to Marseilles. Just as I was leaving I heard the ominous sound of a notification on my SNCF app, which the day before had informed me that my train was cancelled. Fortunately, this time it was just to let me know my train was running five minutes late, which it duly was and continued to be on the hour long journey to Marseilles.
I arrived at Marseilles St Charles station just after 10:30am. St Charles station is situated on the top of a steep hill, and I reckoned the quickest way to get to the old town near the harbour would be to choose a route based on which option descended most steeply. This seemed to work taking me through some narrow back streets filled with carpet shops, which more resembled a Middle Eastern bazaar than France. After about 20 minutes I reached the harbour, which was full of yachts at their moorings.
I could see in the distance the Basilica of Notre Dame de la Garde perched on another hill, but I calculated that I would not have time to visit it before I would need to leave Marseilles. Instead I wandered through the small fish market where that morning’s catch was being sold. To get back to St Charles station I plotted a different route using more major thoroughfares, which I calculated would not be as steep as the way that I had descended.
My next train, to Nice, was due to depart at 1157. This was a regional TER, which despite travelling second class, was one of my most expensive train journeys of the whole trip to Athens. Even though it is owned by SNCF, the regional operator in this south east corner of France does not honour national discount cards (such as my Carte Advantage Senior), nor was it offering any reduced advance fares on this train – that said, €37 for a 200km journey is not excessive by British standards. Apart from when it was in tunnels and a brief deviation inland, most of the nearly three hour journey to Nice was along the Mediterranean coast. The route provided glorious views, which were difficult to photograph due to the glare of the sun on the dirty train windows.
I arrived in Nice a few minutes late at 1445 and took the opportunity of first calling at my hotel to drop off my bag. From there I walked to Nice Old Town, visiting the flower market which was starting to wind down for the day. I then walked in late afternoon sunshine along the Promenade des Anglais, which had French troops patrolling it, presumably to provide reassurance following the 2016 Bastille Day attack when a truck was driven through the crowds, killing 86 people.
My walk along the Promenade brought me to the Musée Masséna. This contains an art and local history collection, housed in a former villa in its own grounds, fronting the Promenade des Anglais. Not having much time in Nice means that you don’t get a very good deal on museum entries. There are five museums run by the city authorities – to visit any one of them costs €10, or alternatively you can buy a ticket for all five for €15 which can be used over three days. Sadly, I concluded that I would have time to visit only one museum in my brief stopover in Nice. The Musée Masséna took me the rest of the afternoon to look round and by the time I left it was starting to get dark.
From the museum I walked back to my hotel near the Basilica of Notre Dame de Nice, which now looked even more stunning than when I first walked past it, as it was illuminated with different coloured lights at night. I had imagined Nice to be an expensive city, but the hotel I stayed in was not much different in price to my first two nights in France, but much better in quality. It helped that I had been upgraded to a large superior room, which provided a dressing gown and slippers for my use. Before going out to eat I went to the hotel’s rooftop bar, where I could claim a free welcome drink – it had very tasty Affligem Belgian beer on draught served with a bowl of nibbles.
As usual, I had researched suitable places to eat that evening and had identified one not too far from my hotel, which had looked good when I had walked past it earlier in the afternoon. However, when I arrived there I discovered that they were getting ready for a Beaujolais Nouveau evening and the place was fully booked. On some previous occasions on my travels when I have been bounced from my first choice, I have stumbled across somewhere even better. There was another restaurant a bit further down the same street whose overall Google rating, although not as good as the place I originally intended to visit, seemed quite reasonable. I should have read the reviews more carefully, as some of the more recent ones said the place was overrated and that the food was not very good. Unfortunately, these later reviews were correct and I had my most disappointing meal of my post-pandemic travels. I ordered Serano ham to start with, followed by chicken. The ham came unadorned with no garnish, and the chicken was undercooked served without a sauce but some fried potatoes, which had not been freshly cooked, but tasted as if they had been reheated in a microwave. Not what you would expect from a restaurant in France.
I didn’t want to let one disappointing meal mar what otherwise had been a very enjoyable , but brief, time in France. My decision to head south had been justified, as the murky weather I left behind in London had been replaced with warm sunshine each day, but at about 20°C not so hot that it impeded sightseeing.
[To be continued. Coming next – Italy.]
Europe Explored 