Touring the Provencale Countryside

This morning I went on a half-day tour of the local Provence region (cost 50 euros). There were only 3 people on the tour (myself & two women from HK), so the mini bus we rode in wasn’t at all full. The tour guide, James, had come out from London about 33 years ago & settled in a town outside Avignon. We had some great chats about the culture, wine, food, & everything else about France. On the tour we were meant to see the lavender fields, but unfortunately, the pretty fields were not yet in bloom. A type of lavender used for other purposes (antiseptic, arthritis, etc) was in bloom, so at least we saw one field of those. But the trips around the villages were cute.
Our first village, Gordes, is known for building no-window houses with dry stone (no cement between). Still to this day, some of the old houses still stand with locals not being allowed to tear them down, only allowed to build beside them in the same type of style. We didn’t stop in the village, but drove through & had a look at examples of the old houses (Bories) & walls.
We stopped at the second village, Lacoste, for about 25 mins - enough time to browse through the local market & have a croissant. The village was sprawling with wealthy locals out to buy their cheese, salamis & olives for the week.
The other notable village, in which we strolled for an hour was Roussillon. The Romans were first to mine the ochre in the hills used as dyes & colourings. The hills are a red earth colour, similar to the Australia outback earth, & stand out boldly against the green surrounds. The town itself was gorgeous, little laneways weaving up toward the peak of the town, with small shops tucked away for tourists. The coffee I had - not so good.

Around Avignon

After visiting the Pope’s Palace, I searched for a nice little nook with a café & found one. I met a lovely retired couple there from South of England (Chris & Alan) & we had a good old chat.
After lunch, I wandered down to the Pont Saint Benezet, a bridge (& chapels) built during the 12th century which had finally succumbed to one too many floods & so only half the bridge now remains. I then headed up to the Petit Palais (Small Palace) Museum which houses a great collection of Italian & Provencal paintings, as well as a fine collection of sculptures.

Walking Tour of Avignon

Determined to be an insatiable tourist on my 2nd day in Avignon, I was up & out of my studio quite early to first grab some breakfast, then book in for the 10am Avignon guided tour (17 euros) organised by the local tourism office. I found an okay coffee - a rather strange tasting cappuccino that seemed to have either condensed cream or some other sweet cream-like substance added. But with that & a croissant under my belt (bulging belly), I eagerly awaited the guided tour.
The tour was only meant to go for 2 hours, but actually went for 3. The guide was excellent, speaking English fluently, she was able to articulate all the little historical facts we love to hear about. We went past old roman walls, through churches/cathedrals, finally ending up at the Pope’s Palace, which has a remarkable history.

Seemingly, back in the 1300’s the papal residence was transferred from Rome to Avignon & remained here through a number of Popes before the Catholic Church finally said they wanted the pope to come back to Italy. So for a while (don’t ask me about dates or years or particulars please), there were 2 popes - one in Rome, one in Avignon - because the Avignon pope wouldn’t abdicate - he liked poping far too much. Lots of restoration work has been completed on the Pope’s Palace, but the weird thing is, their restoration doesn’t mean recreating it to look how it use to look, but to look very different - what’s the point? Anyway, still a great place to visit.

7th June 09 - Arrival in Avignon

Arrived in Avignon & managed to find ‘La Madeleine’ apartments quite easily after given some sturdy directions from the bus driver. But when I entered the studio I’d rented, my expectations were definitely not met - it was not at all like the pretty pictures on the website. Except the courtyard, which was lovely with vines & mulberry trees blooming all over.
I partly unpacked, then headed into town to find out what there is to do in this area. Once loaded with all the knowledge I required, I found a typical tourist restaurant to dine at, & was incredibly disappointed with the fare presented. The chips were only war, verging on cold & the mussels were tasteless. I then wandered around the village, but nothing much was opened because it was Sunday. So then I came back to the studio & did quite a bit of writing. To say I wasn’t at all impressed with Avignon on my first day is an understatement.