We woke up early on day two after some much-needed sleep to make it to the train station. Only problem is that our cab driver misunderstood us and took us to the wrong one. After hopping in with another cabbie we sped across town (a.k.a. risked our life) only to miss our correct train by minutes. Wah, wah.

The next few hours were spent sipping cappuccinos, coloring and mentally preparing for the south of France. There are worse things in life…

When it was time to board our train we rushed on, sat down and immediately opened a bottle of wine sans cups. (Travel tip: You can bring food/drink onto the train to enjoy while you zoom to your final destination.)

When we arrived in Avignon, my parents were there to pick us up from the train station. Oh, right, I may not have told you that my amazing parents just so happened to be traveling in France at the same time as us. Overlapping our trip with theirs was pretty much the coolest thing ever!

They dropped us off at our Airbnb (a little slice of decor heaven for me) and told us to get settled in, and that we’d meet up later to sightsee and enjoy dinner.

[the most wonderful market: Les Halles]
[Palais des Papes]

Our main reason for choosing Avignon as our home base was its proximity to the wine regions we wanted to check out during our stay. Up first: Chateauneuf-du-Pape.

We started our morning out with a visit to Chateau Le Nerthe and it’s beautiful grounds. The chateau dates back to the 15th century and they have the wine caves to prove it.

Just north of Le Nerthe lays Chateau Mont-Redon, the largest producer in the region and apparently Marcus’ happy place. Wine was tasted and magnums were purchased.

After starting the morning off drinking, we decided we should sit down for a long lunch and headed to nearby Gigondas’ L’Oustalet to do just that. Many courses and multiple bottles later, we headed back to Avignon – full and content.

Up next: indoor markets, champagne lunches in the rain and a corkscrew museum.