The road to Barcelona

Friday 15 April –

I had a noon train from Avignon to Barcelona, changing trains somewhere in Spain. But the Spanish will not let me book a seat on line for the train so I had to wait till I got to the station to talk to a ticket agent. Jonathan came to get me early to have a coffee in the village before departing for Avignon. Well that didn’t happen. There were no coffee spots open in the village at 8:30a! They were opening at 10a! It’s because the “season” hasn’t started…no need to be an early bird. So we headed to L’Isle-sur-la-Surgue for a coffee and croissant.

L’Isle-sur-la-Surgue

streets of L’Isle-sur-la-Surgue

streets of L’Isle-sur-la-Surgue

JT dropped me at the station at 10a, plenty of time for me to discuss with the ticket person about how to get a seat to Barcelona. The train connection I wanted was not available, but luckily I had a very helpful Frenchman (who knew very good English) who booked me on a later train, with a connection that would get me into Barcelona at 8p, perfect timing! So I decided to go and explore Avignon. The very helpful Frenchman provided me with a flyer with an address (in the city, a 5 min walk) to drop my bags so I could explore the city without dragging bag and backpack around. So I dropped my bags and headed out. LOVE Avignon. The old city center is still surrounded by the old medieval walls. Wandered the streets, into a wonderful square, then another square that had an amazing church (most all squares seem to have churches) with a very lively band playing. The weather was perfect for strolling. I decided to just get a water and sandwich to take on the train (which was now at 1:30p) so I could stroll the streets and not take the time to eat at a restaurant.

Avignon

entrance to Avignon

walls of Avignon

band playing

square in Avignon

I headed back for my bags about 12:45p so I could be back at the train station by 1p for my 1:30p train. WELL…when I arrived back at the baggage storage area, all I saw was the doors closed and blocked off! WHAT? Then saw the sign on the door stating they were closed from noon to 2p for lunch (or siesta or whatever)! What, how can a baggage storage service close in the middle of the day? Once it sunk in that my bags were being held hostage I came to terms that I would not be able to get on the 1:30p train. So change of plans again. I headed to the train station, bagless, to see what options I had to get to Barcelona. No option available (of course!). So, again with the help of another nice Frenchman, I got a train to Perpignan (a town near the border of Spain) where I would spend the night and take a train Saturday to Girona (a town in Spain), where I would meet Pep and Blanca. They were already planning to head to the coast for a BBQ at Blanca’s cousin so this was a good option, just one less night in Barcelona.

Back to Avignon, picking up my bags at 2:30p for the 3:35p train to Perpignan. Arrived close to 7p in Perpignan, found a hotel through Booking.com, walked to the hotel, checked in and headed out to find the center of town and some dinner.

view of dinner in Perpignan

street of Perpignan

Saturday 16 April –

Up early so I could pack and have time to stroll Perpignan before getting on a 11:15a train. I thoroughly enjoyed my stroll through the city, stopping in one of the many squares to have coffee, OJ and croissant in one of the many restaurants with seating outside (of course!). Then back to the hotel to collect my bags and head for the train. YAY, made the train and my way to Girona. Boy what a train station Girona had. I felt like I was in an airport. As I got off the last escalator, there was Pep to greet me. As always, SO wonderful to see him. He is such an amazing person. We headed to the car to meet up with Blanca and her cousin Anna. We took about a half hour to tour around Girona before getting in the car to Blanca’s cousin’s home in one of the many villages near the seaside. We arrived about 2p at cousin Lorenzo for the BBQ. The BBQ is not what we American’s know as BBQ food. Lorenzo grilled: lamb, artichokes, eggplant and a couple different varieties of sausages. It was all fabulous. With wine, bubbly and lots of desserts, I had my fill for the Easter celebration. After the big BBQ, we all decided to stroll the village, up to the castle (cause what little village in Europe doesn’t have a castle?).

with Blanca and Pep in Girona

Girona

Girona

Blanca's cousin Lorenzo ready for BBQing

Blanca with the chocolate bunny

The Easter BBQ gang

Enjoying the Easter BBQ

At the top of the castle

view from the castle

Stopped in the small village of Sant Mori to check out Pep and Blanca’s house located in the village. Quaint little village of about 200 people. It was an amazing old stone home in the heart of the village. LOVED it. Met up with a friend (Marta) of Pep and Blanca’s before heading to Barcelona.

Blanca in front of their house in Sant Mori

Quaint village of Sant Mori

Got to Barcelona about 11p (I had a little nap in the car). Pep and Blanca recently renovated their apartment so I got to see all the work that was done and be the first to sleep in the new murphy bed in the extra room. The place look great, but of course is not quite complete (you know contractors…).

Sunday 17 April – EASTER

Pep had put a plan together for our outing for the day of walking, even detailed it on a map with a presentation (to Blanca and me) on the TV in the morning, infrared pointer and all. We were ready for a big day of walking the city. First stop, the train station to purchase seats on my next train from Barcelona to Pau France (I decided not to go to Madrid but Pau instead to visit another friend who moved to Pau in 2015). Ticket purchased, flight from Pau to Lisbon purchased, we are ready to hit the pavements of Barcelona. We walked to the many sites and neighborhoods of Barcelona, so many I won't list them all.

Had lunch in a neighborhood that consisted of tapas and wine (YUM), then to the marina and more (too many to mention).

Our tapas

I think both Blanca and I were tired (my legs were a bit sore) and maybe Pep (he did not admit it) so we took the bus back to their apartment. Once back we came to terms that we only accomplished about 1/3 of the planned route for the day! Oh well, it was all good no matter what but I was disappointed we did not fulfill Pep’s plan. The evening consisted of us relaxing, talking and watching a show about the president of Ukraine (the show was in French with sub-titles in Catalon) so I watched the video and picked up the concept of the show.

Monday 18 April – Easter Monday

We took the lazy man tour around in the car, with Pep driving to amazing spots, dropping me and Blanca off to walk and take pictures of the sites, back in the car, and repeat. Until 1:15p when we were back at the apartment to cooking could begin for our lunch. Our guest was arriving about 2p, another friend from Atlanta Olympic days…Kevin Carbone. Kevin arrived a bit after 2p and then another local Barcelona friend of Pep & Blanca’s (Lisa) arrived during lunch. We had wonderful time catching up (Pep and Blanca see Kevin about once a month since he moved back to Barcelona from China after 11 years). I hadn’t seen Kevin in person since 1996. Lunch went well into the evening. Lisa departed first, then we decided to walk off some of the yummy food and stroll the neighborhood, dropping Kevin off at the bus (of course stopping in yet another wonderful square along the way). My visit ended that evening with a green tea for my last sleep at the Rubies’ apartment.

Blanca and Kevin

Easter Sunday group

Tuesday 19 April –

I have a 9:10a train to Pau France. Pep drops me at the train station at 8:10a so I had plenty of time to find the track. It was very organized and I was so glad I was there a bit early. Got on the train early (in my first class seat) and settled in for my 2 hour ride to Narbonne where I changed trains to Pau. BUT my connection was 7 hours from when I arrived, so I headed out to the city (with my bags this time) found a cute little restaurant for lunch, then spent a couple hours in this lovely park. The weather turned out to be just perfect, a bit of a breeze, sun and low 70’s. The park had a playground for the kids, lots of benches (in the shade) for the adults and colorful, happy flowers in full bloom. Nice way to spend my “down” time.