I got off the train in Avignon and was sooooooo excited to see Debi! Love that girl!! She asked me immediately if I needed anything, and I quickly explained my bank account drama and asked for a little help getting a phone card. At this point I was deliriously tired, but that second wind was keeping me going--that being said, it was pretty nice to have a familiar face (especially one who spoke French) to help me out. We bought the phone card at the station and finally managed to get through to my dad, who promised to figure out my bank drama (or get my mom to figure it out) pronto. He also promised to e-mail Erik to let him know I made it to France and I was okay.
It was a GLORIOUS day in Avignon! It was probably about 65 degrees and SUNNY--a novelty after the dismal Portland winter we've been having. I was soooooo happy to be in Europe with Debi, but my heart was definitely in Portland with my grieving boyfriend. I decided to do my best to be present and enjoy the experience, and we headed out. As we walked toward the car, Debi's phone started ringing and I quickly discovered the kind of day she was having. As is typical with weddings, there were last minute details and little dramas that needed to be sorted, but she was handling them extremely well. I told her the story of my trip so far to give her something else to think about between phone calls, and we headed into the city. We parked the car and on our 3rd attempt to leave managed to remember everything we needed. We walked out into the courtyard of the Pope's Palace (GORGEOUS!!), and she told me her friends were wandering around Avignon somewhere, and her family was wandering elsewhere. She tried to call her family, to no avail, so we set out on a mission to get her some food. I'm not gonna lie, it was really nice to have Debi to myself for a few minutes, since I knew my time with her was going to be extremely limited. We vented a bit, caught up a little (our weekly e-mails keep us mostly caught up!), and then headed back out into the city.
After a few minutes of walking, we ran into the group of Debi's friends who had come for the wedding. We chatted with them for a bit, then Debi took me to show me the gardens at the Palace! They were BEAUTIFUL!! It was a nice walk in the sunshine, and as we neared the chapel, we finally got ahold of her family. We walked through the chapel, took a few minutes to catch our breath and regroup, then headed off in search of her grandmas. A refreshing orange juice and several introductions later, we met up with the whole group and headed off in the direction of dinner. Due to a slight misunderstanding, there weren't quite enough seats in the cars for everyone, so we crammed Debi and friends into a little French car and headed off.
Of course we lost the group (because things can never be that easy, right?), so we waited for awhile to get everyone back together, and eventually we made it to Chateauneuf du Papes where we had dinner reservations on a relatively American time-schedule (read, before 8:30 PM). Dinner was DELICIOUS, and very generously paid for by Debi and her folks. Salads with fresh, warm goat's cheese (mmmm....), incredible salmon, creme brulee and chocolate cake--it was fantastic. French food ROCKS! We had a GREAT time (minor drama, of course, but again, what's a wedding without family drama?), chatting, getting to know each other, eating great food--by the end of the night we all felt like we'd known each other for ages. Then on to Orange...
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