How I did not go to Avignon or Marseille

Also today was the afternoon off (I was not sure, so I went to the school and asked from the reception), I had the idea to go and have a look of Avignon or, as the Plan B, Marseille. There is a bus connection to Avignon and a regional train connection with Marseille.

Internet suggests that the fastest way of getting from Aix to Avignon with public transport is to take the bus to the TGV station, take the TGV to Avignon, then take the bus from Avignon TGV station to the city centre. But this, however, requires a TGV ticket which has to be booked in advance (and can be rather expensive). So I went to the bus station and looked up.

Bad luck, there indeed are buses that go from Aix to Avignon, but they are meant more for student commuting and not for tourists. I was at the station at about 14:30 hours; one had left at 13:00 and the next (and last) one would leave at 17:00; the latter would arrive at 18:45 in near darkness (the ticket booth of the papal palace is open only until 18:00) and, worst of all, the last bus back would leave at 19:00.

Deciding that a quarter of hours was not enough to see Avignon, I soon found out that the best connection to Marseille is by the local train. I walked to the train station, almost stood its long line, ...but then saw from the information panels that railway is on strike and the trains do not go until 16:11 (it was then about 14:54). So it would be again a walk in the dark, so I decided not to go at all.

Instead I went to the Cité des Livres and saw an exhibition about the history of the journalistic photo.