Around Avignon

September 26, 2018

It was a long night trying to catch up on much needed sleep. Nine hours of time change is a bit of a struggle to over come. We spent time awake and some time asleep but never got quite rested. Scott worked a number of hours trying to solve the "garmin" dilema without success. Not sure if we will be making a new purchase before we head out on the tour. But just before falling asleep he stumbled upon a website which stated that the new version of the garmin basecamp software used for transfering maps to the GPS has a bug. Oh no!

After breakfast we headed out on foot to tour Avignon. It's a very cool, old city and easy to walk through with all the sights to see within about one square kilometre. There are two main tourist atractions -Le Pont d'Avignon and Palais des Papes. Both were checked off.

Le Pont d'Avignon, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, was built across the River Rhône in 1177 through 1185 but stood for only 100 years. I guess there were no Roman engineers available. Now only 4 of the original 19 archways remain. You may know the bridge from the famous 15th-century children’s song: “Sur le Pont d'Avignon, L'on y danse, l'on y danse".

Le Pont d'Avignon and the beautiful Rhone river. Quite a nice morning today.

The Palace of the Popes was constructed over 600 years ago. During the 14th century it was world headquarters for the Catholic Church, making this the most important center of power in Europe for a brief period. Nine popes lived in the palace. Interesting tour and insight into the operation of this part of the Holy Roman Empire. We were both struck by how many rooms were used for receiving, counting, organizing and storing money as well as the people responsible for these activities.

An interesting kids toy horse tricycle in the palace. It is actually three wheel drive. Your legs pedal the front wheel and your arms power a chain that connects to the back wheels. Always a sucker for an bike pic.

Avignon has a wonderful indoor food market called Les Halles. We got there just before its afternoon closing time at 1pm and were able to pick up delicious bread, cheese, sausage and olives for lunch! We headed back to our place as Avignon shuts down for the afternoon siestas that we love. Scott resolved the garmin puzzle by reinstalling an earlier version of the basecamp software and we were both relieved when maps reappeared on the GPS device! He then turned his attention to building the bikes - no rest for the wicked. The bikes had travelled well and went together without issue.

Pat relearning the euro coins and purchasing the cheese for our lunch. Great cheese in France.

One of the freshest looking and most diverse seaood counters that I have seen.

The courtyard of our studio apartment was a perfect place for putting the bikes together. Scott is getting very good at the assembly.

We celebrated the recovery of garmin and the bike assembly with a bottle of wine kindly provided by our host Paul. After an evening walk and dinner we turned in and fell asleep quickly.

Lots of tight narrow streets in Avignon. So much fun to explore and get lost in the maze.

The owner of the shop greets the customers while the staff work inside.

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