First Day In Avignon

When we arrived in Avignon this morning, we were happy to see that it is much more scenic and lively than Nimes, but, unfortunately for us, most places are closed because Monday is sort of the same as Sunday (as it is in a lot of Europe) and most shops and many restaurants don’t open 

We’re staying at the Hotel Boquier – a charming little hotel/hostel where we have a nice private room with a huge en-suite bathroom.  This is the second hotel we are at (the first was the Campanile hotel in Nîmes) and as we continue to stay in hotels, I feel like I miss the social atmosphere of being in a hostel, but really appreciate having a private bathroom!

Because so much stuff was closed, today was a pretty uneventful day.  At the advice of the hotel’s owner, we headed to an area called Place des Corps Saints for lunch, but couldn’t find anything but sandwich shops so we ended up trying another döner kebab place (this is the third time we’ve had it and it seems to be a very popular food item in Europe!).  Unlike the ones in Portugal and Spain, döner kebab here comes in two formats – galette, which is a pita-like flat round bread, or a baguette-style panini pressed bread – and they put French fries inside your sandwich!

After lunch we checked out the Palais des Papes, a palace built between 1335 and 1364 when Avignon became home of the popes because of the violence in Rome and then walked up a hill to the Rocher des Doms, a park/garden that provides spectacular views of Avignon and its surrounding region.  From here we were able to walk down to the Pont D’Avignon, a famous half-bridge that many people know from the French song “Sur le pont d’Avignon.” (editor’s note: On y danse, on y danse…)  The bridge was actually completed in 1185, but ¾ of the bridge was destroyed when the city was under siege in 1226.  The people of Avignon rebuilt the bridge again, but a series of floods in the Rhône River caused several arches to collapse, and now there is only half a bridge!

Before heading back to the hotel so that Paul could work, we wandered around the streets of Place Crillon, a super expensive shopping area in Avignon, and window shopped a little, mostly gasping at the ridiculous price of things (there was a store that sold bathroom décor such as toilette paper holders for €325!).  I don’t know who shops here, but Avignon is apparently more ritzy and posh than I thought!

For dinner we had a pretty disappointing meal in the “touristy” area called Place D’Horloge because most of the restaurants around us were closed.  The hotel owners had advised us not to eat here, and we can see why!  It wasn’t overly expensive (it seems like all the restaurants here have menus that include a choice of appetizer, main dish, and dessert for about €15) but the food quality was similar to that of a high school cafeteria – edible, but not really good. Paul ordered escargot and some unknown cut of lamb that wasn’t marinated very well, and I got some kind of pâté and the fish of the day, which came in rather bland tomato sauce.  Hopefully we’ll find some good French cuisine tomorrow because we haven’t had anything good since Montpellier!