We packed up and left Caromb by 10:00 this morning for a short 44 km ride into Avignon. A gorgeous sunny day it was. The ride into Avignon was on D designated highways with a comfortable shoulder most of the way. The biking in Provence is not particularly well set up for cycling with most of the cycling along the shoulder of roadways, so you do have to share the road with cars and trucks. We do find the drivers very courteous giving us good clearance when they can. I guess we were spoiled with the bike paths of Germany and river/canal riding for the first three weeks of our trip. The beauty of bike touring is the unexpected things you see each day and the ability to stop and enjoy. Todays ride was no exception.
We had a slight hiccup with our accommodation today as Kathleen mistakenly had booked Sunday night rather than Saturday night. Her explanation of what happened made perfect sense. I won't try to explain but she may when she proofs this entry. No refund of course booking through Booking.com. The hotel staff were great and able to find us another room up street a block away. So we are two nights in Avignon which we likely would have done anyway. Kathleen here: I was quick and careless and did the booking in french. The European calendar starts with Monday and although I know that, when the calendar popped up I just worked on automatic pilot and clicked on the last day of the week. Oops!)
The streets were packed with locals and tourists. Within five minutes we ran into Ken and Val on the street near their hotel, which was actually quite remarkable given the crowds. We watched some kind of a protest go by. Then a wedding procession. It was busy.
After a beer at large street side cafe we went for a walk by the Pope's palace which we decided we would visit tomorrow. The entire Catholic church operation was moved to Avignon in 1309 essentially for the Pope's protection. The Catholic Church was administered in Avignon for 94 years. There were nine Popes over that period and at one point there were 2 Popes ...one in Rome and one in Avignon. This eventually led to a schism. We will learn more tomorrow.
Our tour guide Val, with book in hand, gave us a great walking tour through the streets of historical Avignon. After the tour we stopped for dinner at a street side restaurant. We were entertained by a marching band that wasn't marching for the next two hours. Initially they were in front of the adjacent restaurant but then moved in front of ours. I cannot say if this was a voluntary move. My theory is that this was a high school band who were having a high school reunion and were just getting together for the first time in 30 years. The band had a huge following (had to be part of the reunion) and a captive audience in the street side restaurant we happened to pick.
After dinner we muscled our way through the band and its followers on the narrow street to our hotels.
Leaving the villa. Note the two black rides in the picture, my lovely Surly pony and Ken's Volvo. Which one do you think will get to Avignon first? Think of the fable 'The Tortoise and the Hare'. The Volvo spent time in St. Remy wine tasting and lunching (lucky Volvo) so the Surlys arrived first.
This guy was creating havoc on the D road. We don't know where his humans were, his name or breed, but he became the Chien of the Day for wandering around the middle of the road cluelessly. He was as big as my bike and I actually felt a little nervous passing him but he was a pussycat. Not very bright though!
Our road today. The french drivers are amazing. If there is a car coming the other way they putter along behind until they can give you lots of room. Particularly in the villages this can take awhile, but they are patient. We sometimes felt so guilty we would pull over to let them by.
You never know what you are going to see. We watched these little guys having a blast for about five minutes. The previous group were probably only five or six years old.
Traffic jam. The first driver tried to turn around on the street at an intersection and actually became wedged in, with his right bumper touching a wall and an inch of clearance on the left side. The donkeys were long around the next corner by the time he got straightened out.
Four old guys across the street from the market, people watching. They were attracting a lot of attention with their umbrellas up for shade, and they were having a good time.
I love bike touring. There is always something to see. The bride was beautiful and the groom was handsome. We gave them the blog address. We hope they check.
Avignon in the distance. Note the nice wide shoulder. Sometimes the D roads are like this, and sometimes no shoulder at all, but always courteous french drivers. They are used to bikes over here, and respect them.
