Avignon

Avignon, Monday to Friday, August 1 to 5 

We left Carcassone on Monday August 1 to go to Avignon.  That was another multiple train exchange situation. I’ve neglected to say that I developed a heel spur three days before we left in June.  I didn’t see a doctor because I’d figure I’d hear RICE – rest, ice, compression and elevation.  I knew perhaps one of the two things would happen, but all four at the same time wasn’t going to happen. With little sleep the night before, my heel was killing me and the train changes were really tricky.  Fortunately, we weren’t too far from the Airbnb apartment so we walked.  I stopped by the pharmacy on the way to the apartment and purchased some adhesive tape so I could do a “fireman’s bandage” on my heel, something I had found on the internet. We had a great lunch of tartines (open face sandwiches) in the Corps de Saints square, very lovey and which was literally just around the corner from our apartment while we waited for our hostess to arrive.  Caroline and her husband came to let me in and I found myself starring at four flights of stairs. Certainly nowhere as steep, narrow or twisty as the ones in Carcassone, but four flights.  Caroline asked if it was a problem; what can you say? Yes, and your option is . . .  I told her no but they were going to have to wait until Cham arrived so they could help him with his bag.  Fortunately, her husband carried one of my bags inside while I carried the other and when Cham arrived, he understood the situation. The apartment was lovely – huge kitchen with a nice table, large sitting area, another room with a large television, a bathroom and our bedroom.  It also had a washer!  Perfect!  The mistral, the Sahara wind that blows through southern France this time of year, had started so while we didn’t have any air conditioning, there was a great breeze blowing all night.  All was well.

Cham had booked us for an all day Chateauneuf-du-Pape and Cote de Rhone wine tour the next morning so we met our guideat 9:00, John Baptiste, and another older couple from England, Margaret and Chris and started the tour.  It was absolutely fascinating.  I have visited many vineyards in Europe and the U.S. but have never seen anything like the vineyards in Chateauneuf- du- Pape where a lot of the wine wine is grown in literally fields of rocks. I have pictures the of vines growing the in the Field of Rocks as our guide called this particular area of the designation. Chateauneuf-du-Pape is a fairly new designation, about 1935, done to identify that it was a better wine than wine simply from Rhone. The wine growers in Rhone were concerned their wine wasn’t receiving the acclaim in deserved so they developed stringent guides lines as regards the amount of grapes allowed from each vine to be harvested, even more stringent than Bordeaux or Burgundy, in order to improve the quality of their wine. We have enjoyed Chateauneuf-du-Pape many times before but actually going there and seeing its unique terrior was very special and instructive. Of course the regular Rhones from the area are also delicious.  I would say they’re probably the best buy for the buck right now for quality and price of any French wines. After seeing how these grapes are grown and harvested for a Chateauneuf-du-Pape it is very understandable why it is more expensive than other Rhones. One of the really great things about this tour was the white Chateauneuf-du-Papes we had a chance to enjoy. Cham had heard of them before but we had never tasted any or even seen them for sale in the U.S. Our tour guide said they only produce a limited quantity and love this white so much really they do not export much of it but keep it all for themselves, after sampling it we agree, it is yummy. 

John Baptiste, J.B., our tour guide, is quite an interesting guy.  Full of French charm.  He learned his English when he lived in Freehold, NJ for a couple of years training horses.  He also managed a wine store in the village of Chateauneuf-du-Pape for about ten years.  He knows everyone in the area and could easily run for office.  He instructed us on how to do a wine tasting and it was truly the best one of the many we have ever attended.  He told us a story that he was hired a woman to take her on wine tour. He had no idea until it was over that it was the Rock Star, Pink.  He said she was very smart and down to earth.  The next day she was on a talk show and when they heard she had been wine tasting, he said she was able to do everything properly and as opposed to tripping her up, they had a great deal of respect for her. He also had a wicked sense of humor, which I loved.

The last vineyard we visited was started by a Scotchman, Archie, who had made a fortune in oil.  He was quite a character and we will never forget meeting him. I’m sure he really shook things up when he moved to town because his was one of the few California style tasting rooms we visited.  We ordered a case of his wine to be shipped to us in October and we look forward to hosting a social event for our Lynchburg friends when we return and so you will have a chance to enjoy some of this wine.  

The next day we toured Avignon. They have a huge market there at Les Halles, easy enough to get to by looking at the map and a short distance from the apt.  The plan is to start at Les Halles, eat lunch there and then tour the town.  I love France, I really do and can’t wait to return, but as I’ve mentioned before, they are not big on signage.  We started walking and got totally lost.  Cham and I ended up splitting up and agreed that we would meet at the main entrance because he was sure it was one direction and I was sure it was in another.  After seeing some parts of Avignon I had never seen, I ended up at Les Halles.  Fortunately, Cham was there too and had arrived earlier than myself.  It’s a fabulous market, full of meats, cheeses, fruits and veggies, really fantastic, but not really a place to eat lunch so we ate at an amazing bistro planning on coming back to pick up fish for dinner that evening.  We were told it closed at 1:00 but it closed at 2:00 so we lost that opportunity, but hopefully in Florence.

I remembered some of Avignon from a visit I had made with girlfriends about 12 years ago, but Cham hadn’t been back in since our original visit in 2000. Since we didn’t need to go back to the apt with our fish, we headed off for the Papal Palace. For about 300 years, Avignon was the Pope’s home.  One of the French kings decided he had too much power needed to be watched more closely in Avignon.  It’s quite a history. Once again we took the tourist train which is a great way to get your bearings. The train took us up to a park which overlooks the beautiful Rhone River.  It’s a very unusual color – a blue green.  I asked JB about it because I hadn’t seen anyone boating, swimming or fishing.  He said it was terribly polluted.  Swiss pharmaceuticals dumped their drug waste into the river.  It’s getting some better but that’s taken 20 years.  He said there are monster catfish in the river, nothing like you’ve ever seen in the US, averaging 8 feet plus in length.

It was very hot that day, but we ended up doing a lot of walking so we called it an early night. I decided to do some laundry so we weren’t doing a lot of it the night before we left.  So far, I’ve dealt with French Whirlpool appliances.  This washer was an Electrolux.  Hmmm, there must have been a buy out because that’s what the refrig was as well.  I absolutely couldn’t figure out how to work it.  When I pressed start, it would go into a spin cycle and then it looked like it locked.  I went on line and discovered  this particular washing had a half star rating.  And, to top it off, the machine had locked its top and I couldn’t get my clothes out.  Great!  I wrote Caroline and told her the situation.  We were leaving Friday a.m. and I needed to get my clothes out. We didn’t sleep that well because the mistral had unfortunately stopped.  The next morning, I noticed Cham had a several bug bites on him and I had a couple, but nothing too bad. The good news was that the lid to the washing machine worked so I got my clothes out.  We decided to walk up to the park we had seen the day before. We walked around this beautiful area andthen parted company so Cham could visit the palace with the audio guide and I looked for a place for lunch.  I had a great morning, I found several places, walked back to one of the big squares and watched the children ride a Merry go Round.  I  thenwent up to our designated place and listened while this gentleman played his trumpet.  There were a large group of French students doing a combo scavenger hunt/team building experience.  All of a sudden, all of them started doing a line dance to his trumpet. It was really great to see.  Cham and I found each other, had lunch in the beautiful Carrillion square and went back home to start working on the train tickets to Nice and then from Nice to Florence. 

Once again, it was an uncomfortable night.  It was humid and felt like it was going to rain.  The breeze picked up probably around 4:00 a.m. but as was evident the next day, we had gotten eaten alive by mosquitos, Cham much worse  than myself.  They’re tiny bits and don’t itch like American mosquitos, but we look pretty pitiful.  We met the landlords to say good bye and to get help with the luggage, and headed off to Nice.  What a journey!  We had to change three times.  I figured Marsailleswould be the worst transfer, but we were able to wheel the luggage right to the train.  We only had a 15 minute lay over and once again, no signage so we weren’t sure where we were going.  Cham and I got separated so I decided I needed to head for the train because I figured that’s where he had gone as well.  I got on the train and it was a free for all.  This is all second class so no designated seats, because it’s vacation time, tons of people traveling, especially with bikes which take up tons of room.  I decided to stick my head out the door and see if I could find him.  I saw him looking around and I just started yelling for him, something I hated to do because they really don’t yell over here which is quite nice.  He saw me and I’m sorry to say, I blocked a woman from getting all of her stuff on the train because I wanted to make sure Cham was able to get on with his luggage.  He did, we helped her with her massive items and started to journey to Nice.