June 29, 2024
A second day in Avignon
Yesterday was really just a day of organisation so today we set about seeing something of this remarkable city. July is the month of the carnival in Avignon. There are posters every where advertising theatrical events and young performers are going about the town advertising it, The man in the hotel tells us that there will be two million visitors passing through the city this month
This was not what interested us however we wanted to see something of the old city and its past. In the centre where we are the streets are so narrow and the slightly crumbling stone buildings seem to almost touch each other across the street. All very charming but it made me realise that I really like living with space around us. How to see something of the city was a problem as my walking is really very limited and of course it was hot. We walked to the Palais du Papes. It is amazing how these buildings just seem to grow out of the surrounding rock. It was here where from the early 14th century the Popes ruled for over 100 years until the Papacy returned to Rome.
We sat and drank overpriced coffee in the square admiring the antiquity around us. One of those little trains was taking tours around the city from here so we decided that this was the option for us. Ken was very suspicious that this would be a good idea. But he was wrong. We had the most wonderful hour long tour over the city. The commentary was in easily understood English and didn’t go on and on as these often do but just gave key facts. And with the breeze of the moving train was relatively cool. Altogether about the best little city tour we have ever done and I ended up feeling I understood something of Avignon. The photos however are very poor as they were taken from the moving train (difficult) and by me (I take poor photos) Ken said it was impossible with us moving
Lunch was a delight in one of the many squares then back to our room to hide out the heat of the afternoon and watch the Tour de France until it was time to venture out for a very disappointing evening meal - made exciting by the fact that it started to rain and it was fun watching the waiters scurry around putting up umbrellas so we were all sheltered - by the time they finished the rain had stopped
First Kens photos
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And now from the rather poor photos I took as the tiny train rocked along the cobbles
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