Bonjour All, well it seems a long time between posts , always busy , always on the move , but now a couple of days of R & R before heading home to Aus on Saturday.We have spent the 3 nights in Avignon , the first was a little shaky to start, and then a change in accommodation altogether during some miscommunication. The apartment we ended up in was very nice and had all the things we required , like windows to the outside ( no courtyard though ) a washing machine , ( not a working dishwasher !) , plenty of room, a great view over the private garden from the back french doors, double glazing and shutters to block out light and noise ,and right in the centre ville , so in walking distance to all hysterical sites and restaurants. So our first day: up early for a walk ( no running of late ) but a walk in exercise gear around the old medieval walls and then up to see the Palais du Papes ( Popes Palace ) There was a bit of of a dispute back in the 14 th century , so several Popes claiming to be top dog , so a couple of one them lived , and built a sizeable palace in Avignon. It lasted quite some years , and then things sorted and the Rome became the centre of the universe again. That was quick regurgitation of what we learned whist walking, listening and reading about Avignon. It is fascinating history, and so much of it.... and so many old buildings and bridges and towers and churches and cathedrals and .......of course walking and absorbing history makes you hungry so found a cute little bistro for a great quiche and fruit crumble for lunch. The owner, did not have a bean of English but we managed quite well, without . It was an afternoon of shopping for a few pressies ( something for our new friend Nathalie) and a few birthdays, babies etc ....Sent Glenn home . Spent some nice time just looking around .... men, so do NOT get shopping ! So then after an afternoon snooze we dropped into Nathalie , Stephan and their twins , Charlotte and Mathias , for a quick hello and thank you , to drop off a gift and flowers, stayed for a wine and a chat ....before leaving them to dinner and us to a restaurant ,glenn had looked up ...... it , plus several others were all closed . Went back to the centre ville near the Palais du Papes , found another well reviewed restaurant , had a well deserved dinner at 21 h 15 , then raced to the Palais du Papes for a Light and sound spectacular that was broadcast on to the walls inside the palace.There were two shows ,starting at 21h 15 and at 22h 15 , we were the last in on the later show and OMG ....what a spectacular event . The story was of the palace , and its different inhabitants and uses and wars and fires and floods and owners etc . The music was choreographed to the light and video show and was sensationally dramatic and the light show was out of this world . We had never seen anything like it before in Aus .AND it was all in French , so without even understanding the words , it was sensational. So took lots of pics , but just with the little point and shoot camera as it has such a big sensor in it it takes the best pics in low light situations, ( thx again Geri for that advise ) it was like daytime in most of the shots and no flash used . I wont post these as you had to be there , to really appreciate it all. Tuesday,on the advise of Nathalie and family decided to do a roadie south of Avignon. Firstly we visited a disused quarry that is now an amazing venue for a light show ( yep that was 2 in 2 days ). The theme changes yearly ( I think ) and presently it is all about the artist Gustav Klimt, his work and other artists influenced by him plus a whole lot more . Hard to explain really , but this disused limestone quarry had amazing acoustics and the video and computer graphics were again so different to anything we have seen before, and I do so love this guys work ( I know Judy J & Tracey T , would have loved it ) the venue was more like a big square cave with huge columns left in situ and then the graphics are projected over the walls and floors. Had to be there. It had elements like what you would have seen in Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings and other films like. Next it was on to, Les-Baux-de-Prvence. It is a village perched high on top on a hill, and they still have most off the medieval walls etc. It has many churches and lovely old stone houses , cobbled streets , lovely shops to browse through. Also found a small museum with old printing presses and all things associated with printing books and etchings from a long time ago. The weather was overcast all morning , after our picnic lunch it looked menacing, got blacker and blacker , tried to spit , but never really did, so stayed dry and happy. Decided on dinner at home as leaving in the morrow. Got away by 10h , and spent most of day driving motorways to Auxerre. Had to go via Lyon where again we went way too close , and was on the pheripheric ( ring road ) and ended up on a traffic jam for 30 + minutes. About 5 hours driving plus stops for lunch and WC ....got into Auxerre around 16 h for a look around and visit to the Touristic info and a beer at one of the local pubs . Then checked into our old friend Nadias lovingly renovated little house, just outside town in a village called Bailley for the second time ...rarely do we get to go back , anywhere ... very comfy here , very spec and some nice relaxing time before our flights home. Take care , some pics , au revoir , amour LnG xx
Posted on: Thu, 09 Oct 2014 21:18:36 +0000
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