9/19/07 Provence - Avignon day Popes & Bridges

Got up to clear and cool weather after evening thunderstorms. We had loud thunder and lightning the evening before and a cold front probably came through. We went to the local farmers market in Malaucene and bought our lunch of paella, Baguette, cheese, pears, local ham, tomatoes, local french camembert cheese and finally a couple cakes with peach and lavender in them. The we left town with Lui on our "free" day and drove to Avignon and the Palais des Papes. Avignon functioned much like the Vatican and housed the pope - originally when he was looking for someplace safer to stay. During the schism (when there were two popes vying for power), the second pope (the one who lost the struggle) lived in Avignon. This palace has quarters that that shock and amaze with their grandiosity. We wandered around Avignon a bit and had our lunch in the papal square. After lunch we went to the Pont d'Avignon, which only Lynne felt compelled to actually walk. This was originally a 21-column bridge that crossed the Rhone river and was the official portal to the Holy See (Avignon being the equivalent of Vatican City) and now only has 3 columns left. And finally we went to the Pont du Gard about 15 miles west of Avignon. This is a Roman aquaduct that still stands today crossing a small stream. It's quite amazing as there doesn't appear to be any space between each indivual huge stone in the bridge. Truly, Roman engineering was amazing.

9/18/07 Tues

Got up and had breakfast and took the bus to the starting point of our hike. We hiked up a ridge and then over to a semi ruined castle (Crestet) where we stopped for lunch. The view wqs stupendous. It rained a little but temps were around 70 F and the wind was light and we hiked to the town of Vaison la Romaine, where we looked around and did some shopping. Vaison la Romaine has a chequered past that includes life as a Roman town and a medieval city. You can both view the Roman ruins and walk through the medieval town, which was really quite interesting. We bought some ceramic pasta dishes which were painted with Provencal paint themes and headed back for the hotel where Lynne did the laundry and Chet went to the internet cafe, which ended up being closed.

9/17/07 Day 2 Provence

Decided to go our own way instead of going on the planned group hike since we took our rented Citroen C3 car [which we both like] and drove to Isle sur La Sorgue where the water is said to shoot out of the ground and then run down a river bed. It didnt quite happen that way. The water sat low in the cave where it sometimes comes out in the spring time during the rainy season.

Next we went to Fontaine de Vaucluse, home of Petrarch and the Petrarch museum (which we didn't go into). We did follow the path up to the source (which was very low this time of year), and up some interesting paths in the old section of the village where we saw signs for the chateau. We walked up on the slopes and scrambled up slopes our shoes were not suited for. Finally we reached the top and got to the 14th century fort that was in a very broken down condition. It was a very cool place to visit and made one wonder what history took place here and what were the peoples lives like here. Who died and who lived? *

Next we drove further South and went to the lavender museum whic was very interesting and showed the equipment used to plant grow and distill the lavender as well as the history of its cultivation over time. We bought some lavender soap and a few assorted things. It was warm here near 90 F.

The last destination for the day was Mont Ventoux [windy mountain] which is 6000 ft tall and dominqtes the view for 50+ miles. We drove 80 percent of the way up when we came across a herd of sheep crossing the road. This was something Chet had always wanted to take photos of. Got back to the hotel and had some duck for dinner which was good but not exceptional.

9/16/07 First walk day in Provence

Chet woke up a bit groggy due to the excellent blush Rose wine we drank last night. Went on an easy hike for a few miles until about 2pm. Stayed in the local area and walked with the group. No notable wildlife sightings. Temps around 80 and sunny. Got back to room around and resched for a while since we are still a bit jet lagged. Lynne has been memorizing her songs for her recital and Chet has been reading A Pig In Provence. Chet also went to the town square where an elevated panoramic view was to be had. Had another dinner at Le Ventoux and a good amount of wine and came back very tired.

9/15/07 Arrival in Provence

Got up early Saturday morning for the trip from London to Provence. Train from Whitton to London Waterloo, then the Eurostar from Waterloo to Paris Gare du Nord in 2.5 hours! Lynne says this is a huge change from the trip on the boat train she used to take all those years ago. In Paris, it was the Metro to Paris Gare de Lyon for the TGV (train a grand vitesse, or very fast train) to Avignon. Another non-stop journey at about 200 mph. This country has magnificent trains!

In Avignon, we picked up our rental car, a little Citroen C3. Very nice little car that drove quite well. Lynne navigated, saying a prayer of thanks to our friend Jonathan, who'd loaned us a road atlas of France. In France, the only way to navigate in the country is to know the towns along your route as the signposts are only for towns of big cities in the general direction you want to go. Because the roads out of Avignon were undergoing some construction work, we wound up making a rather circuitous route out to Malaucene, the village where we would be spending the week in Provence.

We finally found the village and our hotel, an old mill structure that was converted into a small hotel with a stone exterior. Lui arrived one hour later. Met the entire walking tour group and had dinner. People are very friendly and dinner was good although it had lots of cream on it. Wine was good and drank too much of it.

9/14/07 Arrived UK

Arrived in UK: Saw Sarah, Jonathan and Sarah and relaxed around the neighborhood. Went out and bought a new set of glasses at a one hour optical shop. It was very nice and very fast. Had pizza at Pizza Express after going to Optical Express for the glasses. Made a very cute movie of young Hazel that amused us all.

9/13/07 Start of trip

Took Trevi dog to the doggy resort hotel and cats are mad we are leaving. Joey has been sleeping in the suitcase. Arrived at the airport and lost my glasses somewhere along the way.