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Published: August 26th 2009
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Before I tell you about our afternoon I need to mention that we had the best pancakes ever for breakfast this morning! The consistency was different than what we are used to, they were more cake-like but very light. We think they were made in individual frying pans because they had this buttery crust that was so crisp and delicious. They were such a treat!
After our morning guided tour of Arles we returned to the ship for our lunch. After lunch we registered to use the bicycles from the ship. We rode our bikes from the dock, up on the pedestrian walkway along the Rhone until we ran out of road. We had to carry our bicycles down a dozen stairs to the street. We then had to navigate through the busy streets of Arles, over a bridge and towards our destination, Pont Van Gogh. We shared this adventure with Alan and Lousie, a couple from Rochester, NY who winter in Hawaii. We were all a bit nervous as we weren't sure of our destination so we stopped frequently checking our map to make sure we headed in the right direction. I got nervous when we had to cross over
a bridge so we walked our bikes until we found a dirt road that followed the Rhone River, passing houseboats and even a "boatel". We were thrilled when we found a sign with an arrow that confirmed our route. After what seemed like a long distance we spotted the famous bridge. We took pictures and then realized that there was an artist on the opposite shore painting. We crossed the functional bridge (Van Gogh's bridge, or pont was just a replica) to get a closer look. We approached the artist and learned he was Italian. He was working on two large canvasses, one of the bridge in the day and one at night. He allowed me to photograph him. We took more pictures around the pont and then rode our bikes back the way we came (although we found a few shortcuts) and decided to ride through "old town" and exactly the same way we started as it was so busy with cars. Before we went through the town we stopped at an Irish pub on the main street. Michael had a Guiness and I had a Smithwick. As we rode on we found the main square and watched the
gladiators putting on a perfomance. (There was some fesitval or something going on). They were really battling each other! We watched a little and then rode our bikes back along the Rhone to the ship and took another "cold" tub before the River Royale set sail for Avignon.
Sunday's dinner was the Captain's Dinner which consisted of carpaccio, followed by Coquille St. Jacques. We then had lemon intermezzo with kir. Our entree was veal tenderloin with au gratin potato. Dessert was gateau chocolate. I was full after the Coquille St. Jacques! One nice thing about the River Royale is they serve complimentary wine with dinner, so we enjoyed some local wine with dinner.
We arrived in Avignon around 21:30 (9:30 pm) and Michael and I disembarked for an evening walk along the Rhone to Pont Benezet. It was beautiful at night and so was the view of the walled city of Avignon. We had to find a way into the city across the busy streets but we did and we walked along a beautiful residential street until we found a square near the Hotel L'Europe. The square was very busy and we chose to sit at Les Artistes and have
some dessert. I chose the dessert of the house which included a demi tasse of cafe, chocalat mousse, glace and a wonderful hazelnut cream gateau (cake). Michael had tartine la pomme (apple) and his usual expresso double. It was fun to watch how busy the square was before we journeyed back to the River Royale. When we got back to the ship the lounge bar was full of sounds of disco but we chose not to visit and get some much needed sleep.
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Lisa LeVasseur
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Wow! What a trip- you have been busy! It sounds beautiful and fun. Happy Belated anniversary! It will be one to remember! Take care. Lisa