Avignon on Provence

 

The Saint Bénézet Bridge was built between 1177-85. According to legend, a simple shepherd built the bridge in order to link the city to Villeneuve-les-Avignon. Over the years, war and constant flooding of the Rhône River partially destroyed the bridge, whose 4 remaining arches only span halfway across the river now. This view is high on the hill behind the Palace of the Popes.

It was a windy day in Avignon, but not bad enough for a photo op overlooking the Saint Bénézet Bridge.

After a long and difficult ride from Le Puy to Avignon, we looked for a good meal that was close to our AirBNB. We found this hip little restaurant that attracted lots of young people who were out on the town. Yes, they are having drinks and food outside. It wasn't real cold, but not picnic weather for Michiganders.

 We had ham, cheese, and vegetable sandwiches, a delicious meal for two hungry travelers.









 






The man behind the bar and our server is a professional ice skater for a pleasure cruise ship. During the off-season, he works in restaurants. His home port is Miami and in six weeks he will begin training and then performing on the ship. 






 

Breakfast the next morning consisted of some food we brought with us from Le Puy.

Winter brings amusement parks into many French cities. This merry-go-round was on the main street while a kid-sized roller-coaster ride--with attending soldiers--were across from Les Halles d'Avignon, the covered market.   

 

Les Halles, the covered market in Avignon features local products on the inside and an ecological statement on its outer walls. 








 







 "Guillotined" fish heads, a French delight, were for sale at Les Halles.










 
We bought pizza for lunch at Les Halles and ate it at the tables across from the market. Unfortunately, these tables were those of a nearby restaurant. When the owner spotted us, she asked us to leave. Fortunately, we had finished our lunch.




 




I had to have some delicious-looking frites to round out my carbo-heavy meal. This time we were allowed to eat them at the restaurant's tables since we bought them there.

 On our last night in Avignon, we went to a brasserie. Now this was my idea of a French restaurant! It not only had delicious food, but very lovely and "old" decor. I was expecting to see Victor Hugo any minute.

Afterward, I learned that a brasserie typically has 19th century decor, an animated ambience, and classic French food like tartare de bœuf, blanquette de veau, sole meunière or escargots de Bourgogne. Apparently, according to news outlets, brasseries are coming back in style.

After two nights in our AirBNB, we left Avignon the next morning fully satisfied and fulfilled. We then drove around 4 hours east to Nice for more adventures.