This morning we were happy to enjoy a slower start, with no ticket commitments to rush to. We did need to get up before breakfast at the B&B was over, and we were very glad we did! Fresh orange juice and coffee with cereal, pain du chocolat and bread with fresh jam, and cheeses, of course.
Veronique sat down with us as we were finishing and produced a map and a list of recommendations for meals and places to visit. She offered to set up a taxi to the train station for tomorrow morning, and to make restaurant reservations for dinner tonight as well.
Following breakfast we freshened up, got our bearings, and went to storm the castle. A freaking medieval castle!
The Palace of the Popes was commissioned during the 14th century and served as a base for several popes. It is currently a UNESCO world heritage site and continues be be restored, as it had been deteriorating for centuries – it was used as a prison and a garrison during the French Revolution and was further utilized during the world wars.
We spent a few hours at the castle descending to the sub floors, climbing the turrets and following the histogram guided tour (which was very well done). We saw banquet halls and treasuries, throne rooms and studies, kitchens, fantastic gardens, frescos by Giovannetti, and we even got to walk along the ramparts. It was a very unique experience, and puts all of your historically framed medieval movies into a very real perspective.
The castle also dominates the town square in the centre of the walled city, and town squares are also where you find the best treats. Suffice to say the creme glacee was exactly what we were looking for.
From the castle it is only a short walk down to the Rhone and to the Pont Saint-Benezet, a medieval bridge that used to span the river. Only four of the arches now survive (as well as the song Sur Le Pont d’Avignon!), as well as a short draw bridge and a much modified chapel of Saint Nicolas.
We walked to the end of the remaining bridge where we had an excellent view of the Rhone and the walled city. We didn’t stay for long though as it was very windy, and we were soon on our way back to our B&B.
It was late afternoon and we’d had little to eat so we grabbed some baguettes with cheese and ham at Chez Lisette on the way, then regrouped at La Banasterie to wait for…
Mimi! Fully loaded with her giant Osprey pack on her back and her day bag on her front, our daughter arrived shortly after 6:30pm at our door, having walked over from Avignon Centrale train station – she’s written that adventure up in a separate post 🙂 It was great to see her after her several weeks in Europe and she had many stories to tell.
Our dinner reservation was for 8pm, but Sharon sadly bowed out as she remains a bit unsettled for full meals. Mimi and I walked through the cobbled city to our hotesses’s recommended Label.ID (a cute transformation for The Good Idea – it takes a moment) where we had a fantastic meal of beef cheek on a bed of rice with lightly cooked veggies. It was delicious!
Back at the B&B we traded more stories and checked our travel itineraries – tomorrow is a long haul day with four trains to catch, and we will leave France for Italy.
