Day 7

Day 7:

Friday, March 27, 2009: Today we began by waking up and packing up. We needed to check out and head to Le Gare de Lyon to catch our train to Avignon. We arranged for a taxi to pick us up at the hostel so that we would not have to drag our bags on the metro again, although I believe we could have done it. The cost was 12E between the four of us.

At the train station, Melissa and Shawna left Zoe and I with the bags and found the ticket counter. Once they bought theirs, Zoe and I did the same. We bought a ticket to Avignon and a Carte 12-25 for discounted fares on our next trips. The total cost was 120E which I put on my Mastercard.

We waited until the train was at the station then headed to the platform (unfortunately not platform 9 ¾ for all of you Harry Potter fans). We boarded the train and stowed our bags for the nearly three-hour journey. Along the way, I listened to my Ipod and relaxed while looking at the French countryside. We arrived at the TGV station in Avignon and dragged our bags to the taxi terminal. The station is a short ride outside of town. We could have taken the public bus and walked to our hotel but decided we did not know the exact distance we would have to walk so we got a taxi instead.

We had to get two taxis because we could not all fit, with baggage, into one. Zoe and I had to share one. This fare was 14E. We checked into the hotel, which was selected and paid for by the program, and were assigned a room. The girls got a triple room in the courtyard and I shared one on the balcony with Kelby, another student in our group that had arrived the day before.

We settled in for awhile and waited for more group members to arrive before heading out to walk around the city. Only Shawna and I went, Melissa and Zoe decided to stay in the room. Jenny, a grad student on our trip who participated two years ago, acted as our guide. This was our first look at our new A-town (Avignon; not Athens).

We had to be back at the hotel for a group meeting with Christophe and Katy (the professors in charge; who are a couple by the way!) by 5pm. Basically, they welcomed us and told us that we had two hours to get ready and relax and they would be back at 7pm to take us to dinner. During this time, I got my internet fill and watched the new series on MTV, Taking the Stage. It is set at SCPA, a high school in Cincinnati and produced by Nick Lachey.

At 7pm, we all headed out and walked to the restaurant. Because the program paid for this as well, we had a set menu with about six or seven different choices. I had poulet (chicken) and it was excellent! We also had an aperitif, which is a French custom of having an alcoholic drink before the main course. I had Les Planters with rum and other delicious things. Dinner also included wine, paid for by the program as well.

The waiter kept the wine coming and we enjoyed our first night in Avignon. Conversations interchanged between French and English. Afterwards, some of us decided to visit a pub on the way back to the hotel. I again had 1664.

We sat on the terrace at the pub and enjoyed ourselves before returning back to the hotel. Most of us wanted to continue drinking because it was only like 1am. We bought four beers from the hotel, the only place to get drinks at this hour, for 3E each. We had a mini party in Shawna, Melissa, and Zoe’s room before calling it a night.

(Google any proper noun that you are unfamiliar with.)