COMING SOON HOUSE ADVERTISING ads_leader
Saved: November 20th 2019
Edit Blog Post
On Wednesday morning we were up and away by 9:30 heading to Avignon. The city has a population of about 90,000 but only about 12,000 live in the ancient town city enclosed by its medieval ramparts. Of course that is where we are headed and luckily we found a parking spot fairly close and we were off. Avignon is located on the left bank of the Rhone River. The historic centre, which includes the Palais des Papes, the Cathedral and the Pont d'Avignon all became UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 1995. Perhaps you didn't know that in 1309, the French King wanted to have more control over the Catholic Church so he made Avignon the home of the Popes starting with Pope Clement V and nine popes who succeeded in the papal palace.It remained under papal rule until becoming part of France in 1791. We climbed the rampart to get a wonderful view of the city, the Pont and river. This is a favourite stop for river boat cruises. After checking out the cathedral we decided we had seen everything "important" so decided to head south to the city of Arles. This was a pleasant country drive on two lane highways
passing by harvested fields. Wheat is the most cultivated cereal in the area but amazingly rice is the second most important crop grown in the Rhone delta. Arles is a tourist attraction because of its Roman ruins and being the home of Vincent van Gogh for several years and where he produced over 300 of his famous paintings. We arrived there just as the morning market was packing up and again parking was an issue but we found a spot and headed into the old town. We were ready for a "sit down" so found a bustling café and enjoyed a wonderful lunch chatting with a couple from Australia who were living in France for a year- 6 months in Provence and 6 months in Normandy. We enjoyed comparing experiences of our travels in France as well as comparing our home countries. We strolled through the town after lunch seeing the Roman ruins. As time was ticking away and we still wanted to get to Les-Baux-De-Provence to see Carrieres des Lumieres , we had another white knuckle drive over mountainous roads with hairpin turns and rock walls on one side or the other. Les Baux has a spectacular position in
the Alpiles mountains , set atop a rocky outcrop that is crowned with a ruined castle overlooking the plains to the south. There were quite a few people waiting to enter but the line moved quickly as the show is presented continuously. It is projected over 7000 sq. metres of limestone walls that soar 16 metres high in a cool cave. The Dutch painter's most famous canvases are set in motion with accompanying music and allow viewers to travel through his poetic and tormented universe. We really enjoyed the experience and were glad we made time for it. Unfortunately time did not allow us to visit the town of Les Baux or Saint Remy as we had about an hours drive home and wanted to be off the roads before dark. Those towns will have to wait for another trip.
We arrived back in L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue before 6, just in time to buy our dinner at a little boucherie that specializes in homemade French dishes. Barb bought beef bourguignon and Bonnie an eggplant lasagna. Both were very good!
Thursday morning we awoke to the chatter of people setting up for market day in L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue. By 9 o'clock the streets
were filled with people searching out the best bargains for almost anything imaginable you might want to buy. We had planned to purchase our dinner at the market and that was fun since we weren't buying in large quantities- 8 shrimp, a handful of green beans, a small onion, one mushroom, a clove of garlic. A few items we got free as the salesman just waved our money away. The market packed up around 1 and we continued to browse through the lovely shops. I bought a nice French sweater and a painting from the gallery owned by our landlord. Both momentos from my trip to Provence. It was time for our daily sit down so we found a café near the water and enjoyed watching people as we tried a French sandwich called Croque Monsieur. It is just like a toasted ham and cheese sandwich but the cheese is on the outside. We shared one and it was very good.
Tomorrow we leave Provence and head for Nice. We have thoroughly enjoyed our stay in this area.
COMING SOON HOUSE ADVERTISING ads_leader_blog_bottom
Tot: 0.137s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 9; qc: 48; dbt: 0.055s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.3mb