First day of vacation! On to Arles.

• Neither of us slept well — thinking about getting up early for the train.
• We decided to take the Metro to the train station instead of the RER since we hadn't taken the RER (rail) before. However, our second Metro train stopped one stop early. It was "interrupted" according to the security guards; we also saw another guard with a large dog. Hmmm. So we ended up having to transfer to the RER anyway. It wasn't much different from the Metro, so it all worked out.
• When we validated our Eurail pass, C switched to French since he was more confident that he could understand the agent's French than her English.
• We hung out in a café until we boarded the high speed train (TGV). There was a talkative American couple behind us, but N napped anyway. The scenery to Lyon wasn't that exciting — gently rolling farmland.
• At Lyon, we went outside the station to find a place for lunch. We had reservations about the name "Le Globe Trotter" but it turned out to be relaxing, with a friendly waiter. We tried a couple digestifs: armagnac (brandy's cheaper cousin) and chartreuse (an herby liqueur, better than we remembered from a previous trip to France). They were out of something called "Marie Brizzard" but the waiter said it was good, even if he wasn't quite sure how to describe it. It turns out that it is a rhasberry liqueur that we can get here in Vancouver. Lunch here turned out to be our best train station experience of the trip.
• It was 2 hours to Lyon by TGV, 2+ hours in Lyon, then just under 3 hours to Arles by regular train, which is definitely not as comfy as the TGV. T napped a bit, despite the more interesting scenery.
• The tourist info center at the train station in Arles was closed, in spite of the listed hours. We never did see it open. The hotel was close by, though it took a little orientation since we'd forgotten to print out their map. The hotel clerk/owner(?) (M. Eric, we referred to him, after the confirmation e-mail message we'd gotten), was very pleasant and gave us several restaurant recommendations. We chatted with him several times over the course of our stay.
• First impressions of Arles from that afternoon:
  • Rhone River is pretty
  • Crazy drivers on narrow streets in town
  • Dirty and in disrepair (for example the walkway along the river). A contrast with Verona. Even Paris was (generally) cleaner.
• We went by the amphitheatre: Les Arènes, and made dinner reservations (not at Les Arènes!).
• We stopped for ice cream, and had a couple interesting flavors.
• On the way to dinner C asked an Italian couple (in Italian!) if they wanted their picture taken together.
• We were tired after a long day, so we went to bed early.