As we leave Provence.........

As we finish our adventure in the South of France, here is my rendition of the song MyFavorite Things from the Sound of Music.......sing as you read.

Liquettes on women and market day fromage

Red wine for dinner but lunches of HOMARD

Rooms of toile pillows with cafe Au lait

These are a few of my favorites today.

Driving thru villages seeing the shutters

Painted With colors from ochre to butter

Winding through renaissance lanes of such charm

Drifting through groves of tuit'olive farms

Bonjour Madame , pardon Monsieur, always be polite

When I am trying to know myFrench words, it rarely if ever is right!

AVIGNON 

Some days things work unexpectedly well -you are driving in the middle of nowhere and stumble upon a quirky  little museum or a restaurant just when you are hungry and some days no matter how much you plan, the timing is just off.  So began the next leg of our journey from Lagnes to Avignon. Our first stop was in L'Isle s la Sorgue near our home base to mail our first package back home (take note Shelby and Spencer and be on the lookout for it). We were sure we exceeded the 2kg limit but they took the package with a smile, never even glancing at the scale. Next stop the train ticket office for our Avignon to Paris trip on Saturday. We had been forewarned that some trains may be sold out the night before at our BnB when using my google translator. I had asked our hostess to make us reservations on the fast TGV only to find our preferred time was 'complete'. In hindsight we should have booked an alternate time because by Friday morning ALL the fast trains were full. Needless to say this now did not fare well for the hotel we booked for our one night in Avignon right next to, you guessed it, the TGV station. 

OK, long story in very short spurts now: 20 minute drive to Avignon took one hour, hotel we booked was reminiscent of what would have been a good place to stay 36 years ago while backpacking in Europe, error on car return location, oops, not the TGV but the Gare Central, drove ALMOST there perfectly until Steve turned into the walled city, Marci panicked and shouted YOU'RE SCREWED TURN AROUND, Steve listened and we headed out of Avignon on a 20 minute circle back to where we were. Finally Gare in sight, but where is Avis??? Around again, still no sign of Avis. Run into station, and find an English speaker, get directed and drop off the car. Phew not only am I glad to be car free I actually got away with not driving one single kilometer even though truthfully I did not hold up my end as the navigator.

The rest of the day we found Avignon lovely but hot, the Palace of the Popes gargantuan but not much else (another blog for ranting about the church and their wealth and power in general, this simply amplified everything I already thought). We decided to harken back to the old days of when we took city tours and hopped onto the very embarrassing tram around town, you know kind of like the one at the zoo, because there was English commentary. but we got a good laugh when passing a very old bridge that is only half left, the entire Basque tour group on the train broke out singing London Bridge is falling down in French. Well the train was stifling, the commentary minimal but we did spy the good shopping street and Les Halles. In case you haven't figured it out yet Les Halle's in every city is the name for the big covered market. 

So facing the heat (and lack of A/C almost everywhere) we soldiered on thinking we will stop for a glass of wine, do Les Halles, a museum and dinner. We had totally skipped lunch even though the omelets being served in the squares at the tables under umbrellas were great looking.  

In my little book where for months I had been writing down tips and restaurants and pasting small articles in, tabbing the book with purple post-it's by city, I had a note -eat dinner at Dimanche. We had asked at the TI, had it marked on our map but arrived to make a reservation after lunch service and too far before dinner, so we could only see the charming room from the locked gate. Some more bad timing as we had only the phone number and no phone (a nod to RP as the first time it would have come in handy but still not really needed, however in case you go you can reserve by calling 04 90 82 99 10).

OK so glass of wine in square w/requisite umbrellas, rest feet.  OOPS Les Halles closed 30 minutes ago, get used to only shopping in the markets before 13:00. Dinner discussion. Shall we go instead with a Rick Steve's dinner rec? I can't ever use him for hotels but his walking tours and restaurants are pretty good and he recommends a little place where the entire menu is based on cheese! This sounds great for two vegetarians who are quickly turning into carnivores, still pretty cholesterol laden but delicious. Trudge across town, find the place, closed. But the nice man in the shop next door assures us they open at 6:30, in English. Turns out his English is as good as my French where I also tend to confuse the words for six and seven but we did not figure that out until  later.

Across town and onto a lovely small museum which claims to have the first Van Gogh that stayed in Provence although other books clearly note this as the ONLY original Van Gogh left in Provence. Also amazing, the A/C on the second floor.  Yes i know the photo is a Modigliani.

Next, shopping, amazing boutiques with great shoes and clothes that make  Lord &Taylor look like Marshall's. Oh look at that beautiful bathing suit in the window, it is only $400.00 and it still won't improve the way I look, PASS.

But after much fenetre (window) 'licking' as the French call window shopping, I spied a lovely modern silver ring which Steve helped to convince me I must have. I fear I may end up spending my entire retention bonus from work in France.  

Passing a few amazing looking places to eat, we headed all the way back across town (note:it is still pretty hot) for our 6:30 cheese dinner. Who cares if we look like tourists, we are. Alas we find out we were given the wrong time, ouvert a la 7:30!!! As Steve complains that his hips are starting to hurt from all the walking, we walk back across town again to a simply beautiful courtyard, gravel floor, comfy wicker chairs, white linen, moderne huge floor lamps strewn  around and three huge trees shading it all. The menu for a entree (appetizer) and plat (main course) is enticing and at 25 Euro rather reasonable. With an aperitif of Pastis-yes we really do like it- scallop carpaccio with saffron lime cream, salade de canard magret, and boeuf tartare with pomme frites, along with a lovely glass of Chateaunuef de Pape rouge, our slightly out of kilter day ended on a perfect note, even the bus that shuttled us back to our hotel was on time!

Onto Paris....4 hour train ride with no wifi and much time to share our adventures with you, hence the lengthy rambling. Next posting from the Marais with photos of us in our petit flat with a glass of wine and a baguette.