I was a total cool kid and decided not to go to Nice because let's face it, 135 euros for a day and a half is not worth it. Earlier in the week I found out about a place called Vallon Pont D'Arc, and you could take a train to the city nearby. The train tickets were 9.50euro each direction for a TGV train, which is uber cheap, and then a less then 3euro bus ride.
So we leave Avignon at 7h55 and get to Montelimar at 8h25, and we look at the bus schedule and determine when the next bus is for Vallon Pont D'Arc. From there we cross a park and stumble upon their Saturday morning market, where we proceed to buy food for lunch. By the way, Chase and Amanda accompanied me on this trip. Then we head back to the train station, and ask a ticket guy from the train station when the next bus is and the price. He tells us all of this and then we proceed to wait. The bus arrives we try to get on, and we are told by the bus driver we need to buy our ticket at the train station. There is no way to buy a ticket at this point, and the next train is not until 5h (17h).
(Montelimar)
It is then decided we will just hang out in Montelimar until our train back to Avignon arrives. We had a pretty epic pic nic in the park, which lasted 3 hours, but it was so much fun. Each of us shared our fruit, bread, and whatever else we bought, and talked about so many things. I am truly jealous of Chase and Amanda because both of them will continue to be in France until December. If I was not going into my senior year, I would totally be staying in France until then, sadly I hopped upon the study abroad train a little late in the game.
(Kiwi skiing)
Eventually, we managed to make it to the Office of Tourism, and had a lovely conversation with the person who worked there. We also got to try Nougat, which Montelimar is famous for/ it is the European capital of Nougat. From the office of tourism, it was off to a Chateaux, which the worker said had panoramic views of the area. It was soooo pretty up there, and Le Mistrale was amazing as always. There was also an art exhibit in one of the buildings, which was also cool within itself. It seems to me the French are huge fans of installation art, and this guy mixed the concepts of nature and industry together.
(Tiny part of a larger strcuture)
Our final stop in Montelimar was a nougat shop/factory. I have never had this stuff before, and it has all of my favorite things in it: sugar, pistachios, almonds, and other stuff. Since we walked around the different areas of Montelimar, we saw some really random statues. My favorite was a Kiwi Bird that looked like he was skiing, and I really wanted to take it home with me. Another odd one, which we determined was either Lord Voldemort or a Dementor, was just randomly near a fountain. Eventually, we ended up back in the park for public nap time and relaxtion before catching the train back to Avignon.
(Nougat Rocks!!)
(Our train)
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