Le Pont d’Avignon

Since we knew just about everything was gonna be closed on Sunday, we did not get going quickly today. I made some coffee in the shared area and did some journaling and catching up on the Olympics. But then I wanted something to eat and some real coffee. The Jura was not putting out a strong café allongé.

I did find one boulangerie that was open and I got some pain au raisin, Pain au chocolat and a pastry with apples. I saw one kind of hole in the wall restaurant open, and I asked him if he made a cappacino. He did! It was a long process and he made milk on the stove. No fancy frothing machine for him. He also had two huge soup pots going with something that smelled amazing. I asked him what he was cooking, he said it was for tomorrow. He wasn’t giving away any of his secrets!

He finished the cappuccino and put them

In a little to go box. He assured me it was the best cappuccino in Avignon. I said bein sur! I was pleased that I had managed this whole transaction en français.

I got the goddies back to the hotel and Amy had raised from the dead. We enjoyed our breakfast and I have to say the cappuccino were excellent.

My only goal for Avignon was to go in the bridge. However, the Palais des Papes was open, so we opted for admission to that and the bridge. The palais was underwhelming. There was not much to see and the highly touted histopads were pretty lame. The reviews on Rick Steves travel site said as much but supposedly there was audio, so I thought we would get something out of it. Except there was no audio!!! There was just a brief paragraph about the room and then a visualization of what the room might have looked like back in the day. I was sure when I came before there were many artifacts and tapestries, but a lot can change in 43 years…

As for the bridge, I had memories of eating lunch in the bridge on a very hot day in July with my fellow students in the Wheaton in France program. It wasn’t much like I remembered because one, you had to pay to go on it and two, it was a cool, windy day, and three, there was no where to sit down.

We got some selfies, and watched a movie about how they discovered what was the actual path of the span when it as complete and how it probably got destroyed. I also watched a huge tree come down the river and wash under the bridge. Watching the swirly currents, I could see getting a kayak through could be a bit tricky. Alas, it was not kayaking weather!!

We were then in search of food at yet again an awkward time for France. We found an Italian place. We stopped at an Italian place that was open and after a wait were quickly served. But then we were held hostage. It took three requests to get the check!

By that time we were both stir crazy, so we both took off on walks in opposite directions. I found a sweet little garden by an old church were an American Eskimo dog was having the zoomies, which totally amused a toddler. I also found the train station and then walked outside the wall perimeter by the river. Some Viking tour longboats were docked there and a carnival was taking place with lots of rides and screaming.

We hung out at our room and had some snacks and made it another early night.