Monday 24 May 2010

Another clear, sunny day - t-shirts and shorts weather. Walked into the centre for a simple "petit dejeunier" at Cafe le Grillon, under the plane trees on Cours Mirabeau a short walk up from the Rotunda. A bit of shopping (public holiday but some shops open) then packed up and headed north again on the autoroute about 1 hour to Avignon. Met Sev at noon - great to see her again after she has stayed with us on two separate occasions over the past few years. We parked outside the famous walls that encirle the old city and walked inside the and had lunch in the centre at Le Forum Brasserie on Place de L'Horloge. As in most restaurants in France there was a "prix fix" menu option - you can select from a limited choice of two or three courses for a set price - we opted for this and had a very nice lunch including Nicoise salad, Gardian de Taureau (a kind of beef stew but made with bull - there seems to be sexism at work when you order beef here), and creme caramel. We then walked up to the famous Palais des Papes, home of several popes after an upheaval in the church saw the papacy move to Avignon from Rome in the fourteenth century. Went into the beautiful Dom church next door (another golden gilden statue of Mary on the top), then into the Jardin des Dom gardens (apologies for the tautology). Looked down onto one of the symbols of Avignon, the ancient Pont St-Benezet bridge across (partly) the Rhone. After looking for the sun during the early part of our trip we were now seeking to avoid it as the temperature climbed to around 30C. Walking these streets in July/August would be tough work indeed. Drove to the huge Auchan air-conditioned shopping centre in north Avignon. It was a mini culture shock in the space of a few minutes. Block your ears to the voices around you and you could be in Carindale shopping centre, the lay-out and many of the shops are so similar. Not exactly recommended as a French cultural experience, but sometimes you need to buy some basics. At least you can sit and have a beer as the shoppers walk by. We then followed Sev along the Rhone and under the Pont St-Benezet and south to Beaucaire where we met her mum Jocylene and were welcomed into their lovely home. We enjoyed aperatif outside on the terrace, including great home made pizza slices, and discussed the various plants in the garden, including olive trees. Then we had a wonderful Provencale dinner of Farcie - corgette, aubergine, capsicum and tomato with a pork mince and garlic kind of stuffing - delicious. This was followed by a variety of cheeses, including Chevre Saint Martin (sheep's milk) and Bresse Blue, in turn followed by lovely local strawberries soaked in red wine and sugar. The dinner was accompanied by a very nice Cotes du Rhone Les Colombes. We somehow managed to climb the stairs to bed.


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