DAY 67: Today we closed down Marseille's Main Train Station - OOPs!

August 19, 2024, Avignon, Provence, France

Today was a big travel day with quite a twist at the end! We had a very early start getting up at 4am so we could get organized and get out to the airport by 5.30am. We let the taxi driver know we were flying EasyJet and when he dropped us at the airport, he got us as close to the area of the airport where their counter was located and gave us excellent instructions on exactly where to find them. We had been told EasyJet were really anal about timings, baggage numbers, sizes, weights and could be difficult to deal with. We found them to be great, very friendly and efficient from start to finish. We were very careful to make sure all our bags (in particular) met their requirements and of course were at the airport very early to allow for any potential hiccups.

Our flight was to Lyon and everything went smoothly, from the airport we took the express train (like a mini–Heathrow Express) directly to the main Lyon train station. We then had a 4 hour wait to get the regional train to Avignon, the beautiful town in the heart of Provence that was our destination. All was progressing well. When we got to the station it was absolutely packed with people. We had plenty of time to get our bearings though and went to the information center to check everything was in order with our tickets, the exact train we would be on (what was the final destination of our train so we knew which one to look for on the boards), when the platforms would be confirmed etc. We also checked out access to the platforms which was up a level or two from the actual station area. Feeling everything was under control we had some lunch at a cafe at the station and relaxed for a bit, the first time we had had the chance.

We had first class tickets in carriage 2 which all seemed pretty simple. When the train arrived, there was a 2 sign on the second carriage - all good we thought and jumped on. There was someone in our seat and after a difficult (no common language) discussion we were able to assertion this was a second-class carriage. First class carriages were at the back end of the train! Dragging our suitcases we managed to maneuver our way through the carriages dodging people coming from the other direction looking for their seats. There were a few log jams and the odd comment flying around (luckily, we can't speak French!). By the time we found the baggage area was pretty full, so we had to split our bags for storage.

The trip itself was an hour and there were some interesting sites as we whisked our way through the countryside. Mostly though the tracks were set really low and what we saw was grass banks on both sides. I wasn't feeling great so did my best to relax and rest.

When we arrived at Avignon there was a rush for the exit and some confusion over which doors were open and which weren't, grabbing the luggage from different places added to the general confusion and chaos. However, we escaped, threw our bags into the back of the taxi and headed for our B&B. When we arrived and went to get our bags from the taxi boot the conversation went something like this.

"Did you get the backpack"

"I thought you had it"

Collective realization we had left the backpack on the train.

Gosh - with a capital F!

What to do! Fabienne our Air B&B host was great, and she looked for options. Then Jeantte had the idea to message Megane (our G Adventures Tour Director). We knew Megane lived in the area and had taken a couple of weeks off after our tour to catch up with family and friends here. While calling her might sound a bit strange on the surface, this is an example of why (as we have said before) she is such a wonderful person and at a whole different league from other Tour Directors - even though most are great - we have had. Megane messaged straight back and said to leave it with her. After a few minutes (although it seemed much longer) she came back and said everything was sorted we just needed to go back to the train station and formally confirm our identity.

Megane explained the police were super sensitive and had zero flexibility around any unclaimed baggage because of terrorism and the possibility any bag could contain an explosive device. There had been a number of examples of bags being left in train stations and exploding causing death and injury - that definitely provided perspective. She went on to say that as a result of our little backpack turning up alone the Marseille's main central train station had been shut down and the bomb squad were on the premises. In fact, we were very lucky that Megane was able to negotiate her way through everything so quickly as everything was confirmed just in time to stop the bomb squad from blowing our poor little backpack up! Which would have been a real bugger as it had all our tech stuff - computers, go-pro, camera, charging equipment etc. In the end we just needed to head over to Marseille, play $10 (which we considered a very small price to pay) and collect the backpack from the station the next day.

So what began as a very sedate (if early) start to the day certainly had quite a twist at the end. We are very grateful to Megane and also Fabianne who offered fantastic support in a very difficult situation. As an aside our Air B&B is absolutely fabulous, but we'll focus on that over the next day or two once our pulse rates return to normal!

All in all, we've had a few off 'off the ball' incidents on the trip so far: cyclist trying to beat tram and missing with deadly consequences in Amsterdam, phone being stolen and issues that created in Barcelona, closing down a major Metroplitan train station! Hoping for a smooth 100% holiday focused last month for our trip.