fautrever.com

France was one of the first countries to install high-speed train lines; they put in tracks between major cities as early as 1981. We are lucky enough today to take a TGV (Trains à Grande Vitesse)[1] from Paris to Avignon, a city in southern France in the Provence region. As I type this we are zooming by countless green fields and small towns in central France. The TGV is reported to reach speeds of 300 km/hour and it sure seems like we are a speeding bullet blurring our way towards Avignon.

Later in the day…
It’s raining in Paris today, so we were hoping that the sun will show up as we head south. No such luck! After we dropped our bags at our hotel, we popped out on Rue de la République, the main drag through town. A few minutes down the road, and the skies opened up; we promptly got soaked head to foot by the dreadful downpour.

We jumped into the closest dry place we could find, which happened to be a McDonald’s. Just for the record, we weren’t planning on eating there. It was just a convenient place to get out of the rain that happened to serve warm and yummy food, that’s all.

After the rain stopped we explored Avignon’s old town, locally known as intramuros, or “within the walls.” This name comes from the fact that the old town is surrounded completely by a fortified wall with only a few entry points for cars and pedestrians.

Someone’s dog had been spooked by the thunderstorm and was running wildly about and stopping cars in mid-road. Erin called him over, comforted him, and the dog was soon playing and prancing about; the scary storm was forgotten and he’d found a playmate.

Dinner is on our own tonight here in the hotel since we were too soaked to feel like going out again after drying out and cleaning up. Luckily we have a full day tomorrow to explore Avignon’s historical and artistic sites and museums.

All in all it was a good travel day due to the rain.

[1] Fr. High-speed train. See this Wikipedia entry to learn more about France’s adoption of high-speed train technology.