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Our stay in Paris wound up with rain setting in and some train sitting in. We finally decided a course of action after hitting a few dead ends. We managed to work out that Gare Nord was not the train station to go south of Paris. We dragged the bags along the Seine for a very pleasant half-hour to the Gare Lyons.
After a very slow ticket line we managed to get a couple of tickets for the one o'clock to Avignon. Avignon is the oldest town in France and to the west of Provence. We want to get away from cities for a while and a car to Italy from Avignon is hard to resist. The coast road holds great promise but we want to see the district as well. We'll let you know.
We booked into the Bristol(cringed at the name though) after a very quick trip and went to the plaza for some great music, a jazz/reggae fusion (?), from four young people who might have been music students perhaps. We were enjoying our biere and the general light-heartedness of the small crowd at the tables. A great greeting to a lovely place.
We have a policy of abandoning any cafe or restaurant where we are not treated well. Seems sensible you might think. It's not easy to 'unstick' yourself from a seat though. We did it twice this afternoon and were rewarded for our initiative. The second restaurant (Le Basil Citron) was a treat. it was at the bottom of an ancient building and was amazing to be in. The food was the best we've had and the waiter was accommodating. It wasn't busy so that gave us some room to move and the waiter some time to explain things a little for us.
Being a cliche in France is a terrible fate. Another Anglais with virtually no language skills. We try to skip through the swamp.
I'm off to hire a car now so I'll be back to you tomorrow.
Shami always said the Waiters were quite offen rude. Seems strange but i think you guys have the right idea. :)
ReplyDeleteEwen
The food looked amazing! I think your policy of leaving a restaurant because of rudeness is a very good idea. We should try that one next time we are out and about. It looks like it is a little chilly there. I can't wait to see Italy! My next vacation dream. Tuscany perhaps!?
ReplyDeleteIt is very pleasant here actually. We are in Marseille because a national holiday wrecked our plans but more on that later. And as far as the service goes, it is mostly very good, better than ever according to Jane. I think that the language difficulties prompt surliness sometimes. The french are big on manners and you have to get it right.
ReplyDeleteWalking out is better than being treated like someone else's dog.