David and Carol Lehrman

about
us

see
the beast

our
photo album

explore
tucson

links

email
us

sign
our guest book

home

www.davidandcarol.com

Our Magnificent
Journey
Chapter 5
Europe 2003
Paris, London, Provence
09.21.03
Sunday
Day 8
Provence
Another glorious night, with cool breezes wafting in our open window overlooking the serene courtyard. Woke early on Sunday to get an early start towards some more of the highlights of Provence. Quick breakfast at the hotel, then aimed the car north and arrived at Old Avignon in time for a bicycle festival which, for the most part, took over the town. Spent a little time at the Avignon Sunday market, which appeared to be Muslim-dominated.
As I write this we are sitting at a café in the main square of old Avignon, and all about us are people on bicycles, in costumes, reveling, singing, having a great time on a lovely cool, sunny Sunday. The "cane" man had fun with Carol. There is music everywhere, from a small "oompah" band to a group of people dressed from the Gay 90's on ancient bikes singing to the accompaniment of an accordion. Many folks are in 19th century costumes, and quite a few people are dressed comically and their bicycles are ingeniously rigged for the occasion. We saw one bicycle with 10 wheels, all of which were functional. People are making a big commotion around one woman racer, so I snapped a photo. She must be a local racing sensation.
The city of Avignon has a theatrical history, and we notice that some of the windows on buildings are painted with lifelike characters.
One fellow got up on the tallest unicycle I have ever seen and proceeded to please the crowd with juggling and balloon tricks.
At Place des Papes we boarded the little jump-on/jump-off train, and I immediately made friends with a gorgeous little tow-headed pixie. The tiny train took us through the ancient parts of Avignon, down narrow alleys, past many Roman and Gothic French walls, cathedrals, bridges and fortresses. Many of the ancient stones date back to the 1100s. Avignon is a wonderful, antique city with charm - we will definitely return. In the river is the longest (7 mile) island in all of France. I highly recommend the 30-minute ride on the petite train - it was worth the 6 euros each.
After the sightseeing, we sat at a café and had pizza, bavette, frittes and biere. The weather is fantastic - sunny and cool, not a cloud in the sky.
As usual we have found the French people to be warm, jovial, friendly, charming and helpful. We see absolutely none of what many Americans are staying away for. Don't believe everything you hear/see in the media.
We sat in the café for quite a while. The sun was warm, and when the maitre'd rolled down the long shade, the little table we occupied become even more comfortable and advantageous for people-watching. The square was still full of people enjoying the Sunday afternoon and the bicycle festivities which were occurring all day.
Soon we decided that we wanted to drive a bit north to Pont-du-Gard, so we found the car and drove through several small villages, along many miles of picturesque vineyards that reminded us of Tuscany, until we came to the massive Roman aquaduct built in 19 BC. It is in amazing condition after 2000 years and as we stood beneath the great arches, we wondered how these ancient people managed to construct such an engineering feat without mechanized tools. The aquaduct spans a lovely blue river called the Gardon, and we saw several kayakers enjoying the water, even though the river was still quite low due to the recent drought. Pont-du-Gard is a very interesting architectural masterpiece, and well worth the visit.
Observation: It was interesting to notice graffiti from the year 1830.
We had a coke at the refreshment center, paid for the parking ticket (to add insult to injury, someone in the parking lot backed into our Renault, leaving a huge dent. Thank God for insurance) then drove south past Beaucaire, Avignon and Tarascon until we were back in Arles, where we showered and rested for the evening.
For dinner, we selected the first restaurant we experienced in Arles, where we had the fish soup with croutons, cheese and garlic - Restaurant L'Escaladou - also known for its bouillabaisse, which we were about to order when my phone rang. It was Mary, God bless her, calling to report that all was well with our pooch Cody and the house. According to Mary, the temperature in Tucson is still in the 100's. Here in Provence it has been delightful.
The bouillabaisse was delicious, very garlicky and filling. We met a wonderful couple from Canada - Bernie Poirier ("Pear Tree") and Jane Mercer, who are spending two weeks touring the south of France. We enjoyed chatting with them for a while, then snapped their picture and invited them to Tucson, and headed out into the cool evening air.
Being somewhat exhausted, we walked down to the Place du Forum, strolled around once, then headed back to Hotel Calendal at 9 pm for some much-needed sleep after a full day in Avignon and Pont-du-Gard.

Previous
Day
Next
Day