Monday, May 10, 2017--Avignon, France
The road was a bit bumpy today. Several things didn't work out as planned. But I still had a full day of enjoying this wonderful city.
I got out of the apartment later than I expected. I headed straight toward the Pope's Palace hoping I would be able to get inside before the tour groups. But this is Easter Week. Europeans have Thursday, Friday, and Monday free, and many take off Monday-Wednesday so they have have a holiday of 9 days!! There were crowds of people in town including lots of tour groups following the flags of their leaders. I decided to put off seeing the palace until 16:00 when the out-of-town people would be gone and there would still be 3 hours to see the place.
Therefore, I headed into the Rocher des Doms gardens to the northwest of the palace where there is a great view of the Pont Saint-Benezet, a portion of an old Roman bridge that was built to connect Avignon with a new settlement across the river. On the way up to the viewpoint, I could see them setting up tables in front of the Musee du Petit Palais, an art museum, for a fancy party. One table had a sign beside it saying, "Wine/Truffles." That information would cause a problem later. The bridge, however, is magnificient to see. I went down later to see it from the riverside, too. It is amazingly well preserved and there is supposedly a children's song (similar to London Bridge Is Falling Down) about it, but I do not think I know the song.
From there, I decided to take care of some business. On the way to the palace, I had noticed that there will be a free concert at the Opera House tomorrow night that requires tickets. Since the box office was closed today, I went to the tourist office. A very nice young man barely beyond student age helped me. He tried to call and he tried to go on line to make me a reservation, but nothing would work. He speculated that the tickets might already be gone which would be a sad situation given how much I would enjoy such a concert.
From there, I went to the nearby train station. I had made four train reservations in which I had not received tickets. One has to retrieve them from machines at any train station in France by inserting the credit card used to buy the tickets. As soon as I inserted the card, all four were listed with boxes I could touch to infill with X marks to show that I wanted to print them at this time. So now I have all of my tickets for getting me as far as Toulouse in two weeks. I just have to show up at the train stations and put each ticket into the stamping machine before boarding the train. It's a very convenient system.
After the train station, I walked next door to the bus station to see if I could get tickets for my plans for Wednesday. I had already researched it, I wanted to take the bus from here to Cavaillon, then switch to the 15.3 bus from there to Gordes. Either by walking or hitchhiking, I planned to get 6 km from Gordes, after seeing everything there, to Roussillon to see it. Then I planned to take the 15.3 bus back from Roussillon to Cavaillon and connect to a return bus to Avignon. Unfortunately, I was told that the 15.3 bus no longer runs. There will be a new 17 bus in a couple of weeks, but right now there is no way to go there by bus from Avignon. Those were going to be my visit to special villages in Provence!
I decided to see the university, which dates from the 1300s, after that. There are several buildings, but one of the main ones is an old hospital that probably was abandoned long ago for that use. I saw three huge buildings--two old ones and one very modern one. But I didn't see but a few students who appeared to be foreign students who live too far away to leave for a short holiday. Apparently classes are out all week.
Feeling tired, I headed back toward my apartment walking through local neighborhoods and looking for a place to eat. I read menus at various places, but as I read the menu at a pizza/sandwich shop, the young girl working there walked out and slide several freshly baked pieces of pizza onto the sales tray. That sealed it for me. One cost me 2.70 Euros (less than $3 US) and was about 6 inches (15 cm) by10 inches (25 cm). It was HOT out of the oven with a nice, crispy crust and big blackish blisters on the bottom. It had tomato sauce, melted cheese, two slices of goat cheese, and a couple of black olives on it. UMMM!
At 3:50, I headed back to the Pope's Palace. I went through security and while waiting in line, I noticed the monitor screen saying, "Grande Audience closed today for special event." That is one of the main sights to see during the tour. The ticket man said it was due to the wine event (which I had seen them setting outside tables this morning). I asked if it would be open tomorrow. He said, "No." That's probably because they will taking down all the tables and decorations, because he said it would be open again on Wednesday, the 12th. So I have postponed my visit to the Pope's Palace again!
Already out and wanting to do something, I headed across the river. I went first to Les Angles, a town just across the bridge and up the hill. Then I walked along a ridge road connecting this town to Villeneuve les Avignon. The walk passed by very nice mansions in the hills with huge gated driveways. One of the bigger places was Chateau les Cigales which is apparently the home of a vintner.
Villeneuve les Avignon is a wonderful small village with very old buildings. I explored a cloister attached to the main church in the center of town. Then I climbed to Fort St. Andre which is a dramatic complex on top of a hill with wonderful views across the river to Avignon. After exploring around the fort, I needed to pee. I followed a path to the right of the entrance that passed a bush and then did not continue except up to a point close to the fort. My guess is that many people have peed there. But what was interesting is that just above the end of the path was a portion of the fort jutting out that had a square-shaped hole. Centuries ago, this was probably one of the toilets of the fort where the excrements of those inside the fort fell to the ground. I added effluents to the spot!
I found a bench and just outside the entrance to Fort St. Andre with a nice view of Avignon. I sat there about 1 1/2 hours reading and occasionally glancing at Avignon. Around 19:00, I headed back toward the city. As I recrossed the bridge, I noticed a full moon rising above the Pope's Palace. I took a photo or two, but there was a better place without trees being in the way and an offset on the side of the bridge further along. Unfortunately, it was also further DOWN which meant the moon was hidden when I got there. I just stood waiting. Near me was a photographer setting up with professional gear. He asked if I wanted him to move his equipment for me to take a photo. I replied, "No, I am waiting for the moon and can take it from here." Then we started talking. He is from Brazil, so I told him I had been to Brazil six times. He wanted to know where I had been and why I had been so many times, so I explained. He became very excited when he found I knew about things like acai and had been to remote places where he said he had not even gone himself. Then he told me about his one trip to the New York City area to the US. He has one month and is traveling through Europe. I think he was just setting up his gear for a photo of the Pope's Palace and had no idea a full moon was about to rise, because he became so excited when it started showing. He (and I) had arrived at a very good moment for taking a photo!
Back at the apartment, I opened a bottle of Cotes-du-Rhone wine that I had bought this morning. It's a good wine. I've been sipping it as I have written this.
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