Day 4: June 24, 2025

Au revoir Paris! After a hearty breakfast, we were transferred to the Gare de Lyon station. The train experience was new to many in our group, and exciting! You will not see many double-decked trains elsewhere. The fastest train in Europe then took us from Paris to Avignon in less than 3 hours, quite an exploit! While on board, most of our students used the time to doze off and recover some energy, it was very much needed. First thing upon arrival in Avignon, we met our driver for the next 3 days: Juanma. He took us to a place near the Avignon bridge, from where we started our Avignon tour by going through the amazingly well preserved medieval wall. In the heart of town, we all wowed at the colossal size and imposing presence of the Popes Palace. Here the group learnt about the Western Schism in Catholic Church and how at some point Avignon was the seat of the Pope. After free time and lunch in the nice Avignon terraces, we headed to Nimes. Checkin and some time to recover energy and stay away from the scorching sun, and the group was ready again to go hit the streets. We took a stroll in the old town of Nimes, seeing the Roman Arena (Les Arenes) from the outside and La Maison Carrée, a most well-preserved Roman temple. The group was free to choose wherever they wanted to eat, and some me went for pizza, others for North African and middle eastern food, and some chose to order Uber. Nimes gives you plenty of options to choose from indeed! While all this happened, a Korn concert was taking place at the Arena, which sparked the funniest of conversations in the group's WhatsApp chat.