Adios Espano and Bonjour France
In 2 1/2 hrs we will be landing on French soil. We are so excited to be exploring France - like Spain we do not know what to expect and Spain was beyond our wildest imaginings.
Landed in Lyon fine and made our way out of airport terminal to 'Rhone Train' with a bit of assistance and without incidence until we reached Lyon city railway terminal and eww la la da fun began. We had 2 hrs to get sorted and catch the TGV to Avignon - sweet - no sour. Firstly couldn't manage the automated ticket machine so went to information for assistance -Sorted - but gracious me had to go back for more assistance the machine would not recognise us - sorted - oh ohh needed to go back again - i stood guard of our luggage whilst Steve doned his French beret on and asked for assistance - i meanwhile noticed our train which was due to depart at 18.06 had actually departed at 17.36 whilst Steve was conquering his French inquisition. There was a sense of big brother watching you and i held our luggage more closely, eyeballing anyone who looked questionable as the " military" presence complete with arms marched around the terminal then followed by a police presence and lastly security personnel. Once Steve had conquered the ticket trial i did happen to mention that for all his trouble the TGV decided to depart 30 mins earlier than on our ticket but happily added " don't worry dear there is another train in 2 1/2 hrs time"
I saved the day and happily announced I would practise my french and order us something to eat. Came back with a plain croissant each an espresso and a cafe latte.
Ok so placated with food after missing our train we went shopping. More correctly; Denise went shopping and Steve guarded the bags.
Waiting for paint to dry was more exciting than waiting for the platform number to come up next to our train. Then voila there it is, and half the people in the station start heading for our platform!
A bit more assistance from another friendly local and we are standing in the right place on the platform; kind of. Train arrives we hop on, stow our bags with some assistance, and.........someone is in 'our' seats. Well as it turns out we are in the wrong carriage. Right train praise the Lord; but wrong carriage. With a little of everything we have learnt thus far on our adventure, we find separate seats in this carriage which are spare. No stops between Lyon and Avignon so we don't care. Average speed on this train is 297 to 300 kmh