The wonderful Laurence from Provence Exclusive picked us up bang on time and drove us to Avignon TGV station.  She walked us in and made sure we knew which track was for our train, which wasn’t too difficult as there were only two platforms.

The train was also on time and we had a very pleasant approximately four-hour journey to Barcelona.

We caught a taxi from the station to our hotel, The Hotel Granvia, and were able to check in straight away.  We had booked a room with a terrace, but when we got to the room, we realised that the room was far too small for our liking.  Maybe in summer when we could have made use of the terrace to sit for a coffee or wine it might have been ok, but seeing as it was too chilly for that we needed a larger room. The hotel actually downgraded us to a superior room at the front of the hotel which was much, much larger.  They also refunded any price difference.

Here is my review of Hotel Granvia: https://www.tripadvisor.com.au/ShowUserReviews-g187497-d208596-r467045761-Hotel_Granvia-Barcelona_Catalonia.html

We went for our first wander in Barcelona, down Passeig de Gracia, which was just opposite our hotel.  We were looking for a restaurant recommended on Trip Advisor named La Rita.  We found it easily enough, mainly by the huge queue outside!

We joined the queue which fortunately moved fairly quickly, although we still ended up having a very late lunch.  We both had the menu del dia – cream of vegetable soup with croutons for me and stuffed eggs for G, Chicken with Spicy Sauce for G and Sausage with garlic cream and potato for me.   We both had Crème Catalan for dessert.  The food was really good and we thoroughly enjoyed our first Spanish restaurant.

After lunch we used our prebooked tickets to visit Casa Mila.  This was really interesting as I am not a massive fan of Gaudi’s architecture.  The visit to Casa Mila explained a lot of why he designed things the way he did and I had a much better understanding after our visit.  I would highly recommend visiting here before any other Gaudi property.

We then walked to Placa de Catalunya, the main square, which was just around the corner from our hotel.  By this stage we were getting our bearings quite well.

We had a glass of wine in the bar at Hotel Granvia before eating a later dinner at 9 Reinas.  We started with Empanadas as we both love them, but that turned out to be a mistake as after the very late three course lunch, then empanadas, we just couldn’t finish our shared steak platter, although it was very, very good.  One day I would like to return to 9 Reinas with a much larger appetite.