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Here I find myself again struggling to begin the week’s story. This week was all spent in Avignon, working long days and stealing some time in the evenings and weekends to explore.
Last weekend’s activities were certainly a success. On Saturday we got some much needed extra sleep in the morning, then headed into the old city center of Avignon, which is surrounded by an impressive 14
th century city wall. Parking, and indeed driving in general in such a place is an interesting challenge as the streets were definitely originally made for people on foot and horses… which is to say they are excessively narrow for cars. However I managed to park safely (in our new, and thankfully MUCH smaller rental car, our old one was a sort of SUV which was necessary for all of our field gear) and we began our on foot exploration. We walked to the main attraction of the city, the Palais des Papes, which, according to Wikipedia, is a very important medieval gothic building. It is indeed very impressive and has a beautiful garden on the hill next to it. Unfortunately, because it is so big, it is hard to get a good picture
of it from anywhere close by, and there isn't really a good vantage point as far as we could find. I did my best but have to apologize for the lack of better photos (google has good ones if you are really interested). We also walked out to see the Pont Saint-Bénézet (or the Pont d’Avignon, it is called both…). This is apparently a famous bridge with its own song, but what is perhaps most notable about it now is that it no longer extends all the way across the river. It makes it about halfway and then the rest is neatly missing. Somehow this makes it more poetic. After our tour of 14
th century architecture we strolled back towards our car and stopped for lunch in a beautiful square under huge sycamores. My food was tasty but the exciting part of the meal was Hailley’s salad, which came with a balsamic sorbet. We debated whether is was meant to be eaten of spread on the salad. This may seem like a ridiculous debate, but the facts that the salad wasn't dressed and that she didn't get a spoon with it made it seam plausible. When we asked however, our
French waiter seemed very confused, “Did you taste it?” Hailey nods, “and you want to put it on the salad?” She assured him it wasn’t that she wanted to necessarily, she only wanted to do what was intended, “Well normally you eat it before…”. Obviously we felt a bit silly, apparently it was some sort of palate preparatory step or something, but I still hold it was not a completely baseless consideration.
The next day we headed to a little town called Isle sur la Sorgue which has a huge Sunday market. The town center is a sort of island city as it is surrounded by (and crossed by) canals with crystal clear waters. There are an alarming number of watermills and their moss covered wood and steady churning give the little streets they grace a sort of purposeful calm. These quiet alleys contrasted starkly with the very crowded markets of the main “street” around the town. Vendors sold things from clothes to fruit to sausages to hats to cheese to delicious handmade nougat bars and delicate herbal soaps.
We wandered in the tides of people for a few hours, spending more than we should have and gathering
some picnic necessities, then headed towards the source of the Sorgue river. We parked between river and road and set up our picnic on a grassy bank next to the very cold river. The waters come up out of a deep well, of which the bottom has actually not yet been found. The water is presumed to be meltwater from the alps, and it surges up out of a pocket in a cliff and feeds the entire river. The result is a perfect picnic, with the icy waters creating a natural air conditioner and the perfect place for a quick dip (though swimming for more than 15 minutes would by tempting blue lips). After our bellies were full and we had cooled off from the heat of the market, we hiked up to see the source of the river. It is a beautiful walk, kindly lined with vendors selling the necessary amenities (beer, crepes, ice cream, kitten calendars, etc.). While the day was hot, proximity to the water made it all delightful and we took a last chilly plunge before hopping back in our little Peugeot and coming home satisfied with a weekend well spent.
The week itself was
full and bust at the lab, Thursday and Friday in particular were 11 hour days each. We started at 7 and didn't leave till 6 both days in a mad dash to try to finish everything in time. In time for what you ask? A trip to Hungary! Yes, we are ridiculously lucky. We are going to visit two more field sites in Hungary to collect plants and get to drive through Italy, Slovenia, and Austria. We are VERY excited. Needless to say, the long week of hard days will certainly be worth it. There are a few pictures here somewhere of us working in lab.
Yesterday afternoon as we were scurrying about the lab, our American Lab mother Cindy invited us to a barbeque at her house as a possible goodbye party since we may not see her upon our return next week. What a great time! She lives in a beautiful home in a neighborhood just outside Avignon on a little hill. She has a big beautiful garden and a pool, and at night you can hear the French owls having conversations about French owl things. We had a delicious meal and possibly even more delicious wine
and ended with ice cream and a taste of three fancy liqueurs, one from Japan, a Cognac, and a verbena infused liqueur she and her husband made last summer. She is a very impressive woman with an inspiring joy for life. She asserted how happy she is to live in paradise and despite having been in her home for 22 years seems to enjoy it like she just moved in. We even held hands to jump in the pool after dinner simply for the fun of it. We stayed until late at night eating ripe cherries and apricots and telling stories about travel and Halloween and talking about gender and feminism. It was delightful and the perfect end to a hectic day.
Today, we slept the majority of the day and while I managed a little necessary work, we spent the rest lounging and only ventured out in the heat for our requisite morning pan aux chocolate and croissants. When it cooled off around 7 we headed to dinner in the old city center, remembering as we approached that this weekend is the beginning of the famous festival of Avignon. It is mostly a theater festival, but also includes
dance and singing performances and, to our delight, street performances. We walked through music filled streets with wandering theater groups (thespians?) that were serenading and promoting their shows to have dinner at a recommended Moroccan restaurant (which certainly met expectations!). I will add a picture of our tagines.
Now I find myself exhausted from a day of nothing and looking forward to a Sunday of activities, but that is for my next blog. Thanks for reading!
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