Avignon - history and language barriers!

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We arrived in Avignon in the rain and trudged along to our hotel. We’re getting pretty good at walking with our backpacks on now! We had a few interesting “conversations” with the staff in the hotel as they didn’t speak any English and we don’t speak any French! At one point the man on the front desk called his daughter so she could answer our question about the bus! They were really lovely people and we got by with a bit of sign languages and lots of laughs.

The next morning we went into town and met another Aussie couple on the bus. They gave us some tips on what to do in Avignon. We wandered through the town which is contained within stone ramparts. We found a food market housed in a building with a really cool green wall. We again struggled with the language barrier, so there was a lot of pointing, nodding and hoping we were getting what we nodded and pointed too! Even though we’d only picked up a little Spanish we now realise how much easier it is to get by once you know the basics! Of course we have learnt hello, thank you , etc. everywhere but that’s not quite enough!

We gathered some goodies for a gourmet picnic (including cheeses, a French stick and vino of course!) and headed to the riverbank. We enjoyed a delicious lunch with some very inquisitive ducks. The cheeses were very strong though - Richie isn’t too keen on the mouldiness!

Next we took in the history at Pont St Benezet and the Palais de Papas. We had information overload after listening to the audio guides (the size of two bricks) but it was very interesting. The Palais de Papas was built in the 14th century and is the largest gothic palace in Europe. We were lucky to be in town during the rose festival as the Palace was full of roses and it was really pretty.

We needed to clear our heads after hours of audio guides so walked across the river (the Rhone) and climbed the Tour Philippe-Le Bel. It was a gorgeous day and we had a great panoramic view across Avignon.

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