To L’Isle sur la Sorgue.

1/16/2020

(Above: Green fields swept by on our high-speed train ride to Avignon.)

Active Summary: This morning I woke up, performed the morningly calisthenics, and then ventured out to procure some breakfast with Camoen. Today’s consisted of a fresh croissant along with some satsumas and blackberries bought from a produce stand. After breakfast, we checked out of our Paris Airbnb and resided on the curb for about 30 minutes before an Uber driver picked us up and delivered us skillfully* to the train station.

More waiting at the train station was ensued by a visit to a toll-toilet (more in TIL) and then by our embarking on the highspeed rail down to Avignon. That ride proved to be about 2.5 hours long (maybe 3?), and went quite smoothly. From there, my brother and I rented a foreign car which seemed to come with a plenitude of scratches**, and then we drove up to our Airbnb in L’Isle sur la Sorgue.

On arrival, our host greeted us. He spoke not a word of English, but was kind enough to show us how to get into the apartment along with all its amenities, of which there seemed to plenty enough. My brother and I toted our bags up to the room, and then finished off our day with a dinner at Longchamp – a French burger-bar.

TIL: Today I discovered that trains – at least the high-speed sort – are perhaps the smoothest and quietest form of transportation. Both my brother and I were impressed at how the cabin glided along so smoothly that it seemed as if we were not moving and that instead it was the landscape and scenery that moved around us.

Also, I discovered that the toilets in French train depots often require a small sum for utilization. At the station today, it was 0.90 euros. I had to use the restroom at the time and so gladly paid the price. I was then pleasantly surprised by the cleanliness of the commode.

Commentary: It is after long days like this one that the call of home is the strongest. I’m grimy, tired, weary of language barriers, and I long for normalcy. Just thought of cooking my own dinner, a juicy Master Blend burger-steak served atop a bed of garden-grown arugula… Fortunately, the food over here is tremendous. Our dinner at Longchamp of tuna dip/crostini, a ridiculous burger, fresh fries, spinach salad, and red wine was enough to satiate a travel-whetted appetite. Now, though, I’m about to fall asleep, so I will conclude by importing today’s pictures:

Fresh croissant, black berries, and satsumas for breakfast.
Brother frowning at my picture-taking on the train ride to L’Isle-sur-la-Sorgue.
L’Isle-sur-la-Sorgue on a winter’s evening.
My bedroom (my brother’s bedroom is currently occupied so I cannot take a picture of it at the moment.)
The common area with my laptop setup.
The kitchen.
The bathroom. A lack of shower curtain and a mobile head makes for an interesting bathing experience.
Toilet room.
Another image of our evening in L’Isle-sur-la-Sorgue.
Tuna salad and crostini.
The Longchamp Burger – a delicious combination of beef, slices of cured ham, a fried egg, caramelized onions, and cheddar cheese sauce. Served with fresh fries and a spinach salad.
A cross-section of the Longchamp Burger.

Final note: I’m not sure what my brother has planned for tomorrow, but it may very well be a ‘rest day’.

*Throughout this ride, our driver was managing his next pick-up, doing some sort of stock-exchange shenanigans on an application reminiscent of Robinhood, and driving the vehicle quite artfully around pedestrians, motorbikes, and other typical city wayfarers.

**A testament to French driving / roads. Saying that, everywhere outside of outside of Paris has been far less hectic.