April 18, 2024: Leaving the Rhone River and Going to the Big City!

April 18, 2024 cjbishop@yahoo.com

Today is our transfer day to Barcelona. Approximately 1/2 of the passengers will be going there while the rest head for home or on their own to other places. AmaWaterways did a nice job of arranging for cabs for those who needed them and handling the logistics of getting those of us bound for Barcelona. Because of our size (~ 60) we need to stay in two different hotels so we will be using two separate buses as we make our way to Barcelona. The first phase of the transfer requires us to go to Nimes where we will catch the train to Barcelona. Arles does not have a big enough train station for longer distance travel.

The agenda for the next three days as we head to Barcelona.

We were asked to have luggage out of our room by 7 AM and to vacate our rooms by 9 AM so the staff can prepare the rooms for the new guests who will be arriving by mid afternoon. I have always been impressed by the cruise industry and their ability to turn a ship around in such a short time frame. We were able to have a normal full service breakfast on the ship before our planned 9 AM departure. Travel to Nimes took about an hour where we were taken on a short walking tour of its major sight- their 24,000 seat Roman amphitheater, followed by a visit to their indoor food market, before going to the train station.

They had a good system to make sure our lugggage ended on the bus we were riding on.

The modern art museum in Nîmes, across from the amphitheater.

View of the amphitheater from the roof of the modern art museum.

Another view of the amphitheater. We did not go inside this one.

One of the events held in the amphitheater.

Group picture in front of the Nimes 24,000 capacity amphitheater which is still used today.

One of the bulls that did not make the cut!

Of course there are loads of outdoor cafes in the city.

The ruins of the Roman maison carrée temple that dates to 4-7CE. It is considered to be one of the best preserved temples in existence.

You cannot beat the hot chocolate served in France.

The alligator is the symbol of Nimes. Supposedly if you rub its nose it brings good luck!

I was surprised at how many different varieties of potatoes were being sold.

Cheese, cheese and more cheese. Supposedly France makes 1200 different kinds.

It’s spring so it is time for asparagus!

Our train was about 15 minutes late in arrival but it posed no problem. We were all in one coach which was quiet, with comfortable seating. The time passed quickly as we passed through the countryside, eventually leaving France and entering Spain. By the time we reached Barcelona we were about 45 minutes late, but the transfer to the hotel went smoothly. The good news was our luggage had been trucked to Barcelona rather than being on the train with us and it was already in our rooms when we arrived-a nice touch!

Here comes our train, which was 15 minutes late at this point.

Very comfortable, reserved seats in a very quiet coach.

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Lunch was eating baguette sandwiches purchased on the street.

Those are flamingos at the edge of the mediterranean Sea.

Arriving late but it posed no problems for us.

Yes, they have the same traffic problems we have. They do have dedicated lanes for only buses and taxis.

Riding to our hotel on the beautiful tree lined boulevards of Barcelona.

Some 19th century buildings we passed on the way to the hotel.

When you see a crowd looking at a building you can. Be certain it is a Gaudi designed apartment building!

Our rarher spacious room at the Renaissance.

The view from the room lacked any charm!

We were on our own for dinner and after some consultation with the hotel concierge our foursome voted for an Italian restaurant (Luigi’s) located a 5 minute walk from the hotel. It turned out to be a good choice. If case you did not know Spaniards tend to eat LATE- 10 PM is a common time for them to have dinner! Most restaurants do not even open until 7:30 PM so we never had a problem getting into a restaurant when we wanted to eat.