Sur le Pont d'Avignon

Saturday 29^th March

Supposedly a rest day today – at least we are not travelling 100s of K. We decided on a nice restful drive round trip to Avignon. I wanted to stand sur le pont.

It was an easy drive to Avignon – we were on the road reasonably early so traffic was not too bad. So far we have stayed off the tollways but may have to use them soon to cover some ground as your average speed off the highways is deceptively slow – probably around 50kph.

First visit in Avignon was the Palais des Papes – the palace of the popes settled by Pope Clement V in 1309 and was home to the popes until they moved back to Rome. There was one room they called the treasury and as late as 1985 they found secret compartments under the floor where the loot was stashed. Some amazing rooms in the palace – 50m long by 15m wide by 20m high. Makes my living room look tiny. How does one heat that space?

Next stop Saint Benezit bridge – the bridge of Avignon. Goal achieved – we stood on the bridge, but no dancing.

The door to the bridge

Saint Benizet bridge - the bridge of Avignon

And I found a little shop in Avignon that had scraps of Provence fabric - just a few in the suitcase.

Our final stop for the day was the Pont du Gard – the aqueduct, from around 19 BC. This was ginormous. What an amazing feat of engineering for its time (and even modern times). Photos I have seen just did not lead me to expect something of this size.  

Finally back to Orange – and the laundromat. Washing done and time for dinner. We keep talking about the food and meals. So far I am finding the food uninspiring and the menus are quite small, certainly not as extensive as ours, and at dinner time tend to be on the expensive side. Tonight we had rabbit which was OK.