October trip to France, Spain & Portugal

Finally, I got my long vacation confirmed. France & Spain, here we come!

However, because of the rather short notice before the trip, we could only get a relatively reasonable flight package with a departure date on 5 Oct midnight, leaving just 11 days for travel... Well, nothing is perfect. I will treasure this long sought-after journey to Europe anyways.

As usual, trip planning is one of the most fascinating pieces of a trip. I just love planning a trip. Through reading websites, like wikitravel, reading books, like Lonely Planet and reading transportation websites, like the railway operators of France and Spain... The feeling was simply too good to describe. I could even imagine my mind flowing over the European continent.

Originally, only France and Spain were on our plan. Then I felt, perhaps we could squeeze Lisbon to our trip, given I have never been to Portugal before and I have been a real fan of 'the Age of Discovery' during the 15th to 17th Century. Iberia was core in the beginning of the important era. I believed if I missed this chance to visit Portugal, it would take me at least a few years to get another chance there.

So, the outcome is a really aggressive plan, one might say. In Lonely Planet France, in the 'Paris in two days' section, it says "if you've got only a couple of days in Paris (bad decision, that)..." that says it all. But, so much to see, so little time!! What can we do? We are travelling all the way from the Asia. How couldn't we use our time most effectively?!

5 Oct 0525 Arrive London
5 Oct 0725 Leave London
5 Oct 0940 Arrive Paris
7 Oct 0714 Leave Paris
7 Oct 1018 Arrive Avignon Centre
7 Oct 1149 Leave Avignon Centre
7 Oct 1302 Arrive Marseille
7 Oct 1758 Leave Marseille
7 Oct 1851 Arrive Avignon Centre
8 Oct 0720 Leave Avignon Centre
8 Oct 0738 Arrive Arles
8 Oct 0951 Leave Arles
8 Oct 1009 Arrive Avignon Centre
8 Oct 1327 Leave Avignon Centre
8 Oct 1959 Arrive Barcelona
10 Oct 1550 Leave Barcelona
10 Oct 2115 Arrive Seville
12 Oct 0715 Leave Seville
12 Oct 0801 Arrive Cordoba
12 Oct 1506 Leave Cordoba
12 Oct 1655 Arrive Madrid
15 Oct 0710 Leave Madrid
15 Oct 0720 Arrive Lisbon
16 Oct 1345 Leave Lisbon
16 Oct 1615 Arrive London
16 Oct 1835 Leave London