South France

Avignon is a fortress town. It drew our attention as soon as we pulled into the station. It used to be a castle/cathedral where many popes were elected and ruled. The placed we were staying is just inside the old walls of the castle. We are staying with mom and dad so we have a two bedroom apartment with a great living room and kitchen. The building is 600 years old but is in way better shape than most places 50 years old in Vancouver. It had 14 feet ceilings and a gorgeous view of Palais de Pape.

Once we were settled in, we walked to find food and got a quick introduction to Avignon. Its pretty small and had a ton of smaller store to buy groceries. We stocked up for the next few days, especially beer and incredible fresh French bread since is was so inexpensive. We spent the evening at our place, we all loved the feel of our 3 day home.

Day two we took the train to Arles for a day trip. It was only 15 minutes by train, and even smaller than Avignon. The layout of Arles is really unique. The center of town has a coliseum that was built by the Roman Empire and they still use it to this day! Although now it is for bull fights and they have added bleachers inside. There are any other ancient ruins, including an old amphitheater that they still use today! They have a stage and lights set up in it, but the old seats and structure. I really loved how they have used and preserved the ancient runs at the same time. We had 8 hours between our trains and probably could have finished in 6. The town is really small. Fortunately it gave us the opportunity to take out slow with coffee and gelato breaks. Another thing that brings (especially artsy) tourists, is that this is the hometown of Van Gogh. They have a ton of painting replicas and exhibits for people to visit, including the old hospital in which he spent time. It was a sunny but windy day so we were constantly back and forth between sweater and no sweater. I'm so glad wee took this day trip.

Originally we had planned to rent a car and drive around France the next day, but it really didn't work out. I can't complain through, we spent the whole day actually seeing Avignon. We got to sleep in and make French toast in our apartment. Then we walked to the Pont d'Avignon and Palais de Pape to explore the castle grounds. Jordan faced his fear of heights on the highest ledge on the castle wall and still lived the tell the tale. We found the perfect French Cafe to eat lunch and sat enjoying the sun (which we would loose in Paris). To end our exploring we walked through the castle gardens and cathedral. After dinner we started packing up our things as we were leaving early on the train the next day. We loved how relaxing our days in south France were and got ready for the fast pace of Paris. It was really good to see my patents and be around some family. We were all excited for Paris, the train rides was gorgeous and riding first class didn't hurt either.

The view from our apartment

In Arles

Coliseum in Arles

Our day of exploring the wonderful Arles

Pont d'Avignon

Jordan getting over his fear of heights on the castle wall.

The four of us in Avignon 

Our favorite Europe treat

Lost in Venice

Once our train arrived in Venice had to catch the vaporetto (waterbus) to where to were staying. It was a gorgeous sunny day and it was so fun to see Venice from the Grand Canal. We instantly feel in love with the place we were staying in. Not only did it have a modern European feel to the kitchen, bedroom and bathroom but it had a water window that was right on a canal. We could sit in these comfy red chairs and watch gondolas and boats go by. We got settled and some some dinner,  then walked along the grand canal. We obviously had to have our daily intake of gelato, which we ate as we walked to St.Mark's Square. We decided to take the back way home, which quickly started our first adventure of getting lost in Venice. We eventually found our way home, and I can honestly say it was one of the most fun downtime we've had. There was this cafe (bar by american standards) that was about 50 feet from our door and where we could get our WiFi as well as coffee and beer and that is where we ended our night.

We went to our cafe for coffee and croissants and to catch up on the outside world. We had no real destination that we wanted to see, we just wanted to experience the culture of Venice. I decided that I wanted to see the famous Rialto bridge so we decides to venture there without looking at our map. Somehow, after a lunch stop, we ended up nowhere near. Although we did find the hotel Jordan stayed at last time he was here. We got redirected towards the bridge and look some picture on it in the beautiful sun. We thought we would walk the other side of the bridge for a while and ended up walking all the way around the base. I have no idea how we got so off track, all I know is that by the time we got to our area of the island I could not feel my feet. We had walked hours longer than anticipated, so when we got home we collapse for a little while. We decided to dress up a little for dinner, just for the fun of it. We kept semi close to our place, which was out of the main tourist area, and less expensive. We loved dressing up for dinner in romantic Venice.

I learned some new things in Venice. For one, it has the dirties water ever, I feared that if it touched me I would get a disease. One thing that is so different from North America is that you pay more to sit and eat then to grab and walk away. For example, to buy a sandwich to go could cost you €3.5 but to order and sit down would cost you €5. So many couture changes to get used to. Another thing that we've noticed in Europe, but especially in Italy, is that men are NOT subtle when checking out women. I mean groups of men will stop and look a women up and down then all turn their heads and check her out from behind. Its almost funny at times, the Italian culture.

Yesterday we woke up too early for our cafe so we walked to find a bakery to grab breakfast. By the time we got back the cafe was open for coffee and WiFi. We had to leave ours place by 11:30 but did not catch the ferry to the airport till 2:50. We actually had a ton of fun killing time, even with our travel backpacks on. People watching is fun wherever you are on the world. The ferry to the airport was really cool as we got to see the small surrounding islands. We met up in Nice, France with my parents and will be with them for the next 5 or 6 days. We are heading to Avignon on the train and it is such a gorgeous day.

Venice as we arrive

Exploring the city (our cafe top right)

Dressing up for dinner

The water window in our place

We are loving life!

Leaving Venice on our way to Nice

Drinking Wine in Montepulciano

I am happy to say, now that we are on the train to Venice , that Montepulciano was worth it. Yesterday I wasn't sure. This was the one leg of the trip that rested greatly on timing of others, as we were only there one night, and was very stressful for me. Our train was delayed 40min so we missed the bus connection to Montepulciano. We had to wait 1.5hr for the next one. Also we moved out of a tourist part of Italy so less people spoke English. Fortunately once we arrived it was great. The place we stayed was so quaint and had a balcony that overlooked the rolling hills of Tuscany. Montepulciano itself is quite small, and we wandered around the town in no time at all. It is less of a place to see tourist sites and more of a place to experience. It is known for its wine, which they give you samples of in many of the stores. You could literally start at the top of the hill and be stumbling by the bottom with all the samples of wine. The pizza we ate was the best so far and we discovered a red wine we both love. Its Brunello di Montalcino and its known worldwide as one of the best wines. The Rosso di Montalcino is made of the same grapes but aged less and is also great (and less expensive). I loved the small Italian town feel, even with the language barrier. The view from our balcony was so incredible that we decided to watch the sunset from there with some of the worlds best wine. It was such a relaxing moment together which we needed since we've been traveling for two weeks now and needed a second wind.

We ate breakfast at our hotel before we packed up. Because the town is so small you really only need 24hr to see it, but if we were to come again I would stay longer to visit nearby towns in the Tuscany region. Fortunately we found out where and when to catch the bus the night before so we were stress free! Our train was a few minutes late but it is a nice day so we did not mind sitting outside. This train ride is beautiful and I can not believe we are in Venice tonight.

The view from our balcony

Love everything about this quaint town

Some of the worlds best wine. 

That is a wine dispenser, like a pop dispenser but for wine!

Loving this trip together!