AVIGNON

April 26, 2007

After our busy day of touring Arles and Les Baux we decided to take a rest day and we spent a leisurely, sunny day lounging around the house, reading, talking and eating.  Every few days we are hearing from Eric by email—“I finished up Rome in 1 ½ days and now I am in Bologna.”  “Hi from Venice!  It’s great!”  “Hey!  I took your advice and went to Florence and now I am going to Pisa.”  Well, everyone tours in his or her own way and he seems to be having fun.

In the afternoon we went to see the French Foreign Legion museum, just a mile down the road from the house.  The displays were very interesting and covered the entire history of the Legion with photos, documents, flags, medals and uniforms on display.  We also got to watch the formal marching and awards ceremony, which was being held in back of the museum.

Thursday it was up bright and early again for a long trip to Avignon and Pont du Gard.  Everyone was ready nice and early and we all piled into the car and we went up through Aix instead of going through Marseille.  This is a prettier drive and seems faster to us, although Trixie (Don’s GPS) says it is better to go through Marseille.

The last time Don and I were at Pont du Gard was in 2000 and they have made a lot of improvements.  Now there is a very nice paved path to go up to the bridge, which we were able to walk across, and also a trail up to the actual aquaduct.  Every time I visit here I am so impressed when I think that this aquaduct was constructed a thousand years ago by the Romans.  The engineering and construction are so impressive.

After walking under, over and all around the bridge and aquaduct we decided it was time for lunch.  I had proposed eating out for lunch instead of taking a picnic because I didn’t want to make everybody eat bread and cheese every day.  Don wanted to go back to a little village we had visited before, Castillon-du-Gard, so we drove up to the little hill town in search of a café.  We looked around a bit and finally found something, but when we went in and sat down, no one came to take our order, so we all decided to get up and leave.  Eventually we stopped at a little bakery and bought croque monsieurs, little pizzas and sandwiches.

Trixie navigated us right into the heart of the walled city of Avignon and we parked under the Palais des Papes.  First we took the little tourist train around the town and then we went into the famous Pope’s Palace, which was the home for 9 Popes during the 14^th and 15^th centuries.  The Popes moved out of Rome due to political interference and then there was a great rift in the Catholic church, with popes in both Rome and Avignon.

The tour of the Palais turned out to be far more extensive that I expected.  An audio guide was provided with admission and it was quite interesting to learn all about the history, use of the various rooms, and the different Popes who resided there.  We visited the great entry halls, chapels, cloister, meeting halls, personal rooms and kitchens.  We enjoyed the views from the top parapets and could look down on the Pont d’Avignon, made famous in the children’s song.  By the time we were done with the tour we were footsore and exhausted.  Time to go home for a shower and a rest.