Our Sojourn in Avignon - l'on y danse, l'on y danse

 Sur le Pont d’Avignon
L'on y danse, l'on y danse
Sur le Pont d’Avignon
L'on y danse tous en rond

- Extract 15th Century French Folk Song

After leaving St-Remy de Provence we had two nights booked in a lovely B&B overlooking the Papal Palace in Avignon. Sabine, our lovely land lady at A l'ombre du Palais, recommended a terrific café for lunch and gave us a map marked with the sights we should visit and also suggested we ride the little tourist train and have a light dinner at the park overlooking the river.

 Setting out with our plan in hand for our afternoon I can't say that we saw a lot of Avignon as we were very tired, I had little sleep the night before due to a really big thunder storm. We took Sabine's advice for lunch, L'Epicerie in Place Saint Pierre, and we were really glad we did.

Our view from lunch

We enjoyed sharing each of our dishes, including a delicious tasting plate, fresh pasta with scallops and saffron and salad as well as a divine cheesecake and pannacotta.

 After this all we were capable of was a trip on the little train which afforded us many lovely views, saved our tired feet and lessened our guilt at having seen so little of Avignon.

 

While we did not dance on the Pont Avignon we had lovely views of it from the cities beautifully preserved ramparts and the park above the Papal Palace.

 We chose to have this short stop in Avignon for two reasons; i) it is easy to catch a train from here when it's time to go and ii) we didn't realise how easy it would be to drive in France and we did not want to miss the Luberon so decided to see it as a day tour with a driver and the B&B advertised that they had a driver we could use.

 

 We did not regret for one minute our choice as we enjoyed such a lovely day with Michelle and Rob got to sit back, take in the view and enjoy the day. It was one of those very special days that we just keep having. To come to Provence and miss the Luberon would be to miss the jewel in its crown and I will tell you about it just as soon as I can.