Today was market day in Villeneuve-les-Avignon. We just walked down to the square ater breakfast and didn't have to worry about finding a parking place. Think your local US farmers market times 20. Fruits, vegetables, cheeses, sausages, spices, clothes, purses, candy; it was all there. Then we took a local bus across the river Rhone into Avignon. Avignon was an important Roman city,as well as the seat of the Catholic church in the early middle ages. It is also the home of the St. Benezet Bridge of nursery rhyme fame. Built in the 12th century, it had 22 arches and spanned 3000 feet across the Rhone River. Today, after centuries of deterioration, it has only four arches left and stops literally in the middle of the Rhone River. There is also a Romanesque Chapel on what ... read more

Villeneuve translated into English means 'new village', but it is hardly new by an American's standard. Just across the Rhone River from Avignon, Villeneuve-Les-Avignon was founded in the 14th century as a 'suburb' of Avignon, where Pope Clement moved the Vatican headquarters from Rome. It still retains its old charm of narrow cobbled streets, stone houses and walls, tiled roofs, and old churches. Yesterday we spent the day in Villeneuve-les-A and just explored the town on foot. First we went to 14th century Carthusian Monastery, Chartreuse Pontificale, that used to house monks, but which is now the residence of writers. The walls in the chapel still have frescoes painted centuries ago. We then walked up hill to the Saint Andre Fort which once housed a 10th century church and village, but was turned into a medieval ... read more

Seeing the prehistoric cave paintings was the primary reason for staying in the Dordogne River Valley. However it is much more than cave art. The countryside is very beautiful and consists of farmland, nut orchards, vineyards, forests, medieval villages and many, many castles, some dating from the 1100's. The river valleys are lined with limestone cliffs, and some of the villages are built right into the cliffs. The most famous of the caves is Lescaux, but these are closed to the public because of deterioration. The government has created exact copies .for the public to tour. Another cave just outside the village of Les Eyzies-de-Tayac has limited access to the public, and we were able to get tickets for the tour of the cave. Unfotunately, the tour guide only spoke in French, and I missed a ... read more

Yesterday I mentioned that the basilica at Sacre Coeur was the second highest point in Paris. Today we saw the highest - the Eiffel Tower. The queues were so long that see didn't go up to the top so we were content just to look from several vantage points on the ground. At La Musee D'Orsay, Ralph and I saw the largest collection of Impressionist art imaginable. Rooms filled with Degas, Monet, Seurrat, Manet, Pissarro, Lautrec, Renoir, Gauguin and my favorite, Vincent Van Gogh. I think I filled up the memory of our digital camera. Amazing! We then took a relaxing boat ride down the Seine which was a great way to see the sights of Paris from a whole new perspective. So we have one more day to look around - maybe the Louvre, ... read more

Today we woke up to a sunny, beautiful day in London. We headed over to the Tate Britain art museum to see the JMW Turner exhibit as well as English painters from the early 17th century up to the present. We then boarded the London Underground (along with hordes of soccer fans heading towards a playoff match) for the Tower of London. Because it is 500 years since Henry the VIII assumed the English throne, there was an exhibit of his armor. The Tower is actually a series of many stone buildings dating from as early as the 13th century. It is also where the British crown jewels are on display. Unfortunately, we weren't allowed to photograph the jewel or the armor. I've been to London several times before this visit, but somehow I forgot how ... read more