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Writer's pictureRuth Mcbride

C’est bon d’être de retour or It’s good to be back!

Yesterday was our last full day in Nice! Those 12 days sure went fast! Of course because we were leaving the weather was absolutely gorgeous! 24C or 75F, with wall to wall sunshine! It was a glorious day to be outside in Nice!


Last walk on the Promenade in Nice.

The iconic blue chairs of Nice were full of people enjoying a sunny Sunday afternoon watching the swimmers, boats and Sea


And everyone who lived in Nice had the same idea! Go for a walk on the Promenade des Anglais, sunbathe on the rocky beach, swim in the Mediterranean, visit Old Nice and sit in an outdoor cafe having a drink chatting with friends. Nice was very sociable yesterday and we were enjoying being out and about with really no agenda other than to buy a luggage lock for my Travelpro suitcase.


I also decided kind of spur of the moment to change my nail polish on my nails to red. I don’t usually wear nail polish, but I had my nails done for this trip and they were growing out after 2 weeks, so we found a spot in Old Nice and I had my nails done, while Richard enjoyed a glass of red wine in a cafe waiting for me.


We packed up our suitcases with all of the stuff we had brought with us, plus whatever we’ve purchased since we’ve been away and we were ready for the 5:15am wake up call this morning! Richard had pre-ordered an Uber for us last evening to pick us up at 6:15am and bring us to the Nice Gare station for our 7:01am TGB train to Avignon.


Unfortunately I woke up at 3:15am and couldn’t get back to sleep thinking about everything I still needed to pack, so that was a bit of a drag, but we were downstairs and ready to catch our Uber at 6:15am for the short ride to the train station.


The TGV train starts in Nice and goes all the way to past Strasbourg to a town called Nancy. The train monitor showed 2 different train numbers with one TGV train showing Strasbourg and a train number and another TGV train showing Nancy and a different train number. It was a bit confusing but finally when the staff arrived around 6:45am we asked and were assured that this was on train on the platform in front of us, so we didn’t need to use the elevator with our luggage to try and board a different train.


Grimacing because I’m up so early!


I had booked us First Class tickets on the train so we secured our luggage and found our seats which were facing backwards to the direction we were travelling. Usually I prefer to sit the direction we are travelling, but it was ok as I’ve taken the train enough times in my life having commuted for many years in Toronto on the GO Train, that I didn’t mind the backwards view.



While on the train I was able to get about 2 hours of work in which was a very good use of my time. As we arrived into Marseille and the passengers disembarked and new ones embarked, all of a sudden the train went back the way we had just come and now we were facing the direction we were actually travelling.


The next stop after Marseille was Aix on Provence and oh my goodness we all of a sudden started going a lot quicker than we had been going! Richard explained to me that the coastal track from Nice to Marseille cannot handle the higher speeds that the TGV train travels.



After we left Aix on Provence Richard got out his phone to track the speed of the train in an app he has. He was getting excited by how fast the train was going but as I was looking out the window, I really didn’t want to know how fast we were going. We kept going faster and faster and faster and then Richard took a photo when his phone showed that we were going 306km/hr! We eventually reached a high speed of320km/hr or 199 mph! WOW! We were going so fast everything outside the train was a blur!



We arrived at Gare Avignon pretty much as scheduled around 10:30am this morning. We took the elevator with our luggage down to the street level and I called an UBER to bring us to the Viking Cruise dock at Quai de l’Oulle in the centre of Avignon.


Lavender plants that we washed up onshore from the flooding this week in Avignon



The UBER driver told us that the road had been closed next to the Viking cruise dock on Wednesday and Thursday as the Rhone had flooded its banks, which was why we had been seeing posts on Facebook that our ship the Viking Buri was stuck up river in Tournon. We found out last night from one of the passengers on the Buri that was supposed to be sailing down to Avignon that only the Viking crew were allowed to sail the ship down the Rhone because the water levels were so high and the passengers ended up on a bus tour, sleeping on the ship only but not sailing on the ship,


That familiar Viking tent!

Mud covering the path to the Viking Buri


We arrived at the Viking Buri and we could see the familiar Viking tent set up outside for embarkation. The staff of the Buri came and got our luggage from us and brought it over the grass to the ship as the path to the ship is completely covered in mud from the Rhone flooding this week.


Viking Buri. You can see all of the mud on the dock and up the river banks


We checked in to the Buri around 10:50am and our stateroom was ready! Yeah! We are in cabin 209 which is one down from where we were at Christmas on the many ships we sailed on with Viking on our last cruise.


Our luggage was brought to our cabin and I spent the next hour unpacking and organizing all of our clothing and toiletries. We immediately put on the Viking Music library on the TV to the Classical station while I unpacked. There is definitely something comfortable about arriving back to a Viking ship when you know the drill. We found a cabin steward and asked for an extra duvet, bath robes, extra hangers, and distilled water for Richard’s CPAP machine. We knew that the staff were busy checking other people in, and that these things would show up eventually in our cabin today


A light buffet lunch was being served in the dining room from noon to 3pm so around 12:30pm we went to have lunch. Lunch was tomato consommé, green pesto penne, Ruben sandwich, green curry chicken and rice and a salad bar. There was fresh fruit, apple tarte and a chocolate mousse for dessert. We joined a table of Australians by chance at our favorite back table. The Australians were from Cairns and had spent the past 5 weeks in Scotland, England and they also did an Insight bus tour throughout Italy arriving a few days ago to Avignon. We’ve made plans to have dinner with the same group as we really enjoyed our time with them!


I started the blog while Richard had a quick pants on nap and then it was time for a quick 2:30pm walking tour of Avignon with a Viking Guide, using our QV boxes. As we tried to walk along the river path, it was full of mud and we all had to climb up onto the grass to avoid the mud. The guide said that the flooding was really bad in Avignon and we are lucky that we are boarding now that the water levels have gone down! Thank goodness! We sure wouldn’t be happy with another bus tour and 3 ship switch like we had at Christmas last year!


Listening to our guide while walking to the old, walled city of Avignon

Notre Dame Cathedral, Avignon


Our walking tour into Avignon was very brief and was more of an orientation to Avignon rather than a chance to see very much of the town. Only the tourist stores were open today and people were sitting in cafes and enjoying the beautiful 24C day in Avignon.


The guide took us to Cathedral Notre-Dame-des-Doms for a brief look inside. We will see more of Avignon when we return on Tuesday to dock here again for a full day of tours.


Safety drill done!


It nice to be back on a Viking River cruise ship! We look forward to the next 15 days of luxurious comfort as we sail the Rhone and the Rhine enjoying the warm temperatures of Autumn in this outstanding wine region of Europe. We’ve met some great people already from Australia and look forward to more adventures with new friends!



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