Avignon

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June 9

We woke up and left Nice early this morning and were able to walk through the main streets with almost no people. Our train made it into the Avignon TGV station around 9:30 and we made it to a central bus station from there and found our hotel about an hour later. Getting here so early is nice, because it will give us almost 2 days in Avignon.
Since our room wasn’t ready yet, we left our things at the hotel and went walking around and made our first tourist stop at Palace of the Popes. Although an impressive palace from outside, there was not much to see inside, since it was plundered during the French revolution and used for barracks. It took about two hours to look around the area, and then we had lunch at L’Espice and Love which had been recommended by our hotel. We think the restaurant was closed when we showed up, but the chef made lunch for us anyway. By then it was late enough that we were able to check in. It’s not fun, but we had laundry to do so we found a laundry place in a nice area with a bunch of cafes and decided to come back out there in the evening to walk around. Before walking around we each had a Guinness at the Irish pub just around the corner from our hotel and had a chat about how odd it is that you see Irish pubs everywhere. Why not a Czech Pub or a Belgian pub? Then we found a Greek restaurant for a late dinner and got a bit lost trying to find our way back, especially with a few areas under construction. Avignon is a great city for walking. Everything is close and there is not a lot of traffic.
-Molly

June 10

We had considered getting out of Avignon today to try and do some hiking, but we still have many things to see in Avignon that our hotel recommended and the weather forecast doesn’t look good for today. We found the street market that goes on every day from 7am-1pm and got some fresh fruit. Afterward, we walked over to the old Avignon bridge that only goes about halfway across the river now. The other half got washed away in multiple floods over centuries. You can get a ticket that covers the Palace of the Popes and the bridge, which is what we did, and then you also get one of those handheld audioguides that you can use to find out more information at different points.
While walking back through town we stumbled upon a medieval church that was a recommended “must see”. After spending a few minutes looking around there we headed back toward Palace of the Popes to go to the gardens and the Cathedral of Avignon. I hadn’t thought about going to a cathedral when I got dressed in the morning so I was wearing shorts, a big no no here in Europe if you want to go into churches. At most places it isn’t strictly enforced, but I still stayed outside while Filip went in to look around. I’ve had enough churches anyway, and I’m sure there will be more.
From here we went across the river to a spot our hotel had let us know about. It’s where all the photos are taken for the postcards in Avignon that show the old bridge and the Palace of the Popes in the same picture. It was quite a windy walk, especially over the water. This made sense since on our tour of the old bridge we had learned that the town had been named Avignon either because of the wind, or the fierce flow of the river water.
I finally talked Filip into letting us walk around to shop a little bit. We even went on a bit of an adventure trying to find something he had seen, though he couldn’t remember where, and thought it might be a good gift for someone. We did find the place, but unfortunately realized that some things look better from afar when you’re just passing by, than when you stop to actually look. We walked around for about an hour, but didn’t find much, especially since the stores were starting to close. We stopped at the market and decided to eat in for dinner and went back to the hotel to pack for Barcelona. We meet up with my cousin Carson and her friend Jenny who are arriving in Barcelona tomorrow from the States. I’m excited.

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Photos

View of Avignon
From across the river Rhone

Palace of the Popes
Popes lived here in the 14th century

The pose Filip prefers
Medieval style