Je suis arrivée

Well I finally made it to Provence.  My flight from Charlotte to Paris had been delayed for 4 hours due to "engine problems" which did not give me a lot of comfort but we boarded, took off and landed safely so no complaints........................... well except that in usual US Airways fashion the service on the flight was beyond hopeless.  How the airline can charge what they do for business class and deliver the same old rubbish is beyond me and perhaps deserves a post of it's own.

While waiting in Charlotte I realized that I would never be able to make my train from Charles de Gaulle to Avignon so I hopped online to try and re-book.............. No chance! All the trains from CDG where full so I began to look at trains from Gare de Lyon.  I booked a train that left at 3:10 which I felt would give me lots of time provided we actually took off!

US Airways shabby Envoy class

Within a few minutes we were told we could board and in fairly short order we were underway.  Apart from the miserable service, horrible seats etc. the flight was uneventful and we landed in Paris at around 10:30am almost 4 hours behind schedule.  My checked bag and my bike showed up quite quickly and I grabbed a cab to Gare de Lyon.  I love the automated kiosks for train travel in France and the screen told me there was a train at 12:37 with available seats, I said "mais oui"!!

The French may have no clue about plumbing but the TGV is one of the best ways to travel anywhere. Comfortable, fast and generally (when they're not on strike) on time.  After a pleasant two and a half hour trip I arrived in Avignon  and was greeted by my smiling taxi driver, Vincent who I had kept apprised of my shifting arrival time.  Thirty seat gripping minutes later I was deposited in Menèrbes and managed to find my house without a hitch.  Although I brought my road bike with me, I had also wanted an everyday touring bike to use as basic transportation and had purchased a used Gitane bike from a cycle shop in Cavaillon, sight unseen.  Vincent agreed to drop me off there and twenty hair raising minutes later we screeched into the car park of Cyclix.  BTW I love the French word for used, 'occasion', un vélo d'occasion sounds so much nicer than a used bike :)

I had been trading emails with the owner Philippe and he was there to meet me with a smile and the Gitane.  It was a perfect fit and after swapping out the pedals for some SPD's that I had brought with me, I was off for a nice leisurely ride back to Menèrbes, just what I needed to get the travel cobwebs out!

The Gitane AKA The Beast on it's inaugural ride

All the travel had made me hungry so after cleaning up, I nipped around the corner to a wonderful little Pizzeria I had read about.  The lovely Les Delices de Charlotte is housed in a charming 17th century building. The NY Times had written a nice review of the restaurant and I have to agree with their sentiments.  Marvelous pizza, friendly service and an old world charm that is hard to find.  A pizza, salad and a pichet of vin rouge set me back just 23 euros, not too shabby for this part of the world.

The cozy dining room of Delices de Charlotte

Thus sated I returned to my house and fell into bed, day one drifted off in a contented slumber with thoughts of what to do tomorrow.......................