Paris to Arles

Saturday we got up early had a quick breakfast, checked out of the Hotel Diana and headed off to Gare de Lyon and on to Arles. From yesterday’s scoping out of the transit route we knew that there was a change in the bus schedule….. however we weren’t quite sure why. Anyway we stepped out of our hotel and all of a sudden there was a parade of people going by, we understood it was a pilgrimage……. and guess what, they were blocking the main bus line to Gare de Lyon. Well we did notice a police officer stopping them and allowing some traffic through however no sight of Bus #63 or #87. Once at the bus stop we asked a very nice lady who spoke no English about the signs posted at the bus stop regarding what we thought were potential delays…… after a few “parlez vous plus lentements, sil vous plait” (speak more slowly please) we got it that the buses were running but they may be late. After a few minutes Bus #63 showed up and we were off to Gare de Lyon. Once at Gare de Lyon it was mayhem; the place we thought we were take the train had now been moved to a new location and platform but is was only about 300 yds away upstairs, across a walkway and into more confusion. Anyway, we finally figured it out and the platform for our train was finally posted and once again thanks to pointy Sill elbows we got aboard the correct train to Arles. Whew!!!!!! Not long after leaving Paris the countryside is quite pretty with a lot of small towns and remnants of past history in buildings and structures. The TGV train we were on gets up to speeds of 320 km/hr so the landscape goes by fairly fast; fortunately we booked seats in the top of the car so we had a good view from above. On it’s way the train stops in Lyon and Avignon before finally arriving in Arles. Along the way we saw our first fields of beautiful red poppies. The old town of Arles is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and it’s where Vincent Van Gogh did a lot of paintings prior to his death, but more about Arles and it’s historical sites on the next post. Anyway after a bit of searching and asking confused French people in our perfect french language (Ha! Ha!) we found our Hotel and settled in. We are at Hotel Porte de la Camargue which is located immediately across the Rhone River from old town Arles. Having a great time..