Day 60 part 2: wind

My train was delayed and so I got in a little later than expected- about 8.30 pm. I was aware that the reception for our hostel shut at 9 so I rushed out to catch the bus as the directions instructed. Uh oh the buses have finished for the night. I'm also aware that the hostel is a good 40 minutes or so from the station. It is very very cold and quite windy. I hurry back to the station and ask the lady for a map and how I can get to the hostel. She gives a map but says the hostel is very far it is out of the city. Great. So taxi it is. Outside there is a taxi rank. I wait for a little bit but there are no taxis coming. It is dead around here. I think maybe I'll have more luck in the city centre so I walk to the centre. The city is dead. No one is around because it is so cold and windy, and not a taxi in sight. I find McDonalds, defrost a bit and google map the hostel. It says an hour and a quarter walk. This is going to be fun. It is now 9pm. I walk. I see maybe 2 people along the way. Avignon is one of those cities surrounded by a wall. I walk outside the walls and then I have to go across the bridge. Oh my god the wind is quadruple the ferocity on the bridge. I cannot even walk without holding on to the rail and if I didn't have crush on my back grounding me I would be over the edge by now. It is absolutely ridiculous. The right side f my face is completely numb and wind blown. I can't feel my lips and my hands went a long time ago. Just when I think the bridge can't get any longer, I reach the end. But the street I want is not there. There aren't really any streets. When I walk a little further I realize why- here lies part two of the bridge. Oh my god jot again. Part two is just as long and blowy. And it is dark. This place has no street lights. I'm shitting myself just a little because I don't really know where I'm going, it's dark, freezing, deserted and I think the hostel will be shut by the time I get there. I panic a little and want mum. Finally the end of a bridge. I ask the closing pizza shop for directions and after a little more walking (why not?) I reach the hostel. It is dark. Reception us definitely locked. There are bars across it. I walk up some side steps and peer inside and bang on the door "hello Liz Hannah, anyone there". No answer. I walk around the other side of the hostel and find an open door to the building. Inside there are three levels each with about seven rooms. I bang on each door shouting "anyone here?". There is no answer. The place is deserted. I start to cry a bit. I don't know if the girls are asleep or of they came here then decided to change hostels because this one is fricken creepy or... I race around the rooms once more and then really start to psyche myself out. There's a painting sheet lying on the floor with reddy pink rains on it and for a moment I'm like "is it... What if it is..." I begin to think I'm going to have to camp out here in the corridor for the night and wait until morning to do anything about the situation. Then I decide I won't do that until I've explored the whole property from end to end. So outside again. I walk around to the back of the property. I see a door, open it and there sitting at the table is Hannah, Liz and a man. Oh my gosh I am so relieved I burst in to tears again. And relay my horrible night to them. They give me chocolate and tea and then we can laugh about it. Patrick (the man sitting with them) says he knows exactly what that bridge is like and tonight is uncharacteristically windy and cold so he can't imagine how it must have been...  In summer this hostel is very popular and is bustling with people but during the winter time the city is very quiet. Avignon translates to "the windy city". They got that right! And they are doing renovations at the moment so only the back part of the building is being used. I think apart from one other group, we were the only ones staying there.  So we sat and chatted with patrick who volunteers at the hostel. He is a very interesting fellow. He would be in his fifties I think and he used to be an artist. He has a condition where he is photosensitive so he invented lamps that did not affect him. He made them out of stone and has had many many exhibitions and newspaper articles written about him throughout Europe. He has traveled extensively but now is running out of money so he will start working at the hostel soon. He tells us about all the books he has read on medicinal herbs and flowers, diets that make you feel twenty years younger because they are suited to your blood type. He is wry intelligent and explains to us the importance of electromagnetic waves in relation to your body's health. We sit and chat and drink tea for hours.  The girls tell me later that he took them to a spring in the afternoon where they collected the water because apparent it is holy and fresh and very good for you.  After peeling ourselves away from his endless (but interesting) chat we retire to the bed chambers.