Final Day in Avignon, A Bath Museum, the Pope's Palace, and Farewell Dinner

We've been to several art museums and after a while, they start to run together. So for something different, we visited the Bains Pommer museum. 

This is not a place you'd find just strolling around in the tourist part of town. But I'd read about it online and people thought it was interesting... and it was fascinating! This was a family owned public bath house that operated from 1890 to 1972. In 1992 it was designated an historic monument, and in 2017 the latest generation of the family donated it to the City of Avignon. Admission is free.

It's been remodeled several times over the years, but some of the original "cabins" where people bathed are still there. Some of the cabins had tubs while others have showers, and one even had two tubs so that families could wash the children all in one room. There were signs posted throughout the building that were in French and English explaining the history and how the rooms were used. The tile was beautiful, and there was a lot of emphasis on cleanliness and hygiene and modesty. They also provided therapeutic baths that included sulfer and other chemicals that were supposed to help with skin conditions.  I suppose at one time these public baths were available in many towns, but this one has been beautifully preserved for visitors to see.

This first photo looks like some kind of torture chamber, but I think people would sit or stand between these shower heads, and someone would control the water flow. 

Overall, there were about 30 cabins or small rooms containing showers and tubs. Here's a couple of the original metal tubs...

And then images of the more updated cabins..

The Popes moved to Avignon in 1309 and were here until 1377. During that time, seven popes resided in the palace. We toured it today and it's quite the place. The rooms are massive with huge vaulted ceilings. Unfortunately, since the popes left, damage was done and most of the frescos and furnishings are gone. But we were able to weave our way through the chapels, the pope's chambers, and the enormous gathering rooms. Oh, and the gardens that could use a little sprucing up. Like so many of the historical buildings, it is not for those who can't do stairs. We were constantly going up and down. But worth it.

Our farewell dinner was the best dinner we've had in France! What a way to end 3 weeks of fabulous fun and food.... at Fou de FaFa. I have no idea where the name came from but once again, it is owned by a couple where he's the chef and she's the front-of-house. And she is a total pro! She welcomed us like old friends to this small, intimate room. Our 7PM reservation meant that we were surrounded by several American couples to start with but eventually the locals arrived. The menu was small but we loved our choices.

Greg started with salmon tartare with apples and honey, and I had a beet and goat cheese salad. Both were beautifully presented and exceptional.

Then Greg had duck breast and I had the fish of the day, sea bream. We didn't plan on desserr but carried away andn split the chocolate creme brulee. Just amazing.

Can't recomment this place enough.

So now it's Monday morning, and we're packing up and getting ready to train to Paris. We'll spend the night at an airport hotel and fly home tomorrow afternoon. Anxious to get there and get through the next two days of travel.

A wonderful trip comes to an end.

Exploring Avignon, a Wonderful Lunch, and Halloween

Yesterday we spent the day wandering the streets of Avignon, doing some shopping, and enjoying the people-watching here. We stopped at several markets and shops, and we thing Avignon is a fabulous city.

The owner of our AirBnb, Eric, gave us several recommendations and pieces of advice. The best one was.. Don't spend more than 15E or less than 10E on a bottle of wine. We have followed this advice and discovered a great Cote de Rhone that has found it's way back to our apartment several times.

We don't generlly go out for lunch at a sit-down kind of place, but we had heard great things about the lunch at  Bibendum in a building that was a 17th century cloister converted into a beautiful setting for a restaurant, bar, and I'm sure the site of mamy social events. 

We started with escargot (I won't post yet another escargot pic)  and a fabulous leek salad... so different and we both loved it. Then Greg had grilled octopus (yes, BT, I've read the book and seen the movie but clearly we are horrible people and we didn't care) and I had a spelt risotto that was the best risotto I've had in a long time. 

It tasted so much better than it looks!

Today was Halloween so all the shops and markets were decorated, and families were everywhere with kids in costume. We'd read about a Vampire Ball at the Opera House, so we wandered into that area in the late afternoon to sit in a cafe and watch the kids and adults arrive. I had the usual Kir but Greg tried an anise drink. The licorice taste was extremely strong and even diluted with water, it was a bit much. But it was fun to try something new.

A few random shots around town...including the Opera House lit up for the holiday.

Just a light dinner at home with quiche from the market and baguette, wine, and cheese.

First Dinner in Avignon, Morning Visit to the Market, and a Day Trip to Orange

Last night we had dinner at La Fourchette, a cute little restaurant recommended online and by our host here in Avignon. The service was excellent, and the little extras like crackers and some kine of spread waiting at our table were nice touches. However, the food left us a bit disappointed. We wonder if their high ranking on TripAdvisor has brought in many tourists (we heard lots of English spoken) and if that has affected the quality of the food. I had some kind of pureed lentil soup with an egg in it for my first course. It had great flavor but was served almost at room temperature. Maybe it was supposed to be but I would have liked it hotter. Greg had escargot and while it looked beautiful, he said it was not at the top of his list... and he's had quite a sampling of escargot here. 

Our main courses were also a little meh. I ordered grilled prawns, and although the sauce was nice, the four little shrimp didn't have much flavor. Greg had veal and some of it was too tough to eat. The highlight was some kind of potato ball that they give with all the entries. 

We have reservations for Sunday night at a place we're anxious to try. It will be our last "good" dinner so fingers crossed.

This morning we went to the wonderful market here and shopped for an at-home dinner tonight. We may be gotten carried away just because there were so many wonderful options. Today I was fascinated by the variety of things they sell there... like at the fish counters! So many types of fresh seafood displayed beautifully in the cases. How can they sell all of that today? Because it certainly won't last long.

And the quiches and tarts....

Late morning we took a short train ride to Orange (pronounced o-RANJ) to see the ancient Roman amphitheater. Of course, we made a quick stop at a boulangerie to share a sandwich and a cookie... and then we were on our way to this amazing site. There are lots of Roman ruins in Provence, and since this one was easy for us to get to, we added it to the day trips.

It's hard for us to get our heads around how old it is. Over 2000 years old! We started with a virtual reality movie that showed us what it would have looked like way back when. And then we were given audio guides to explain things as we moved around the theater. Over the years, much of it has been destroyed but the stage wall is still basically intact. And this is definitely not a site that folks with mobility issues should visit. Tons of steps going up and down, and most of them have no hand railing. Glad we made the trip.

Dinner tonight from the market:

Chickpea salad, octopus salad, stuffed tomato (not sure what it's stuffed with yet), sparerib, gogonzola cheese spread, and turkey, eggplant parmesian. Weird but it should be fun.

A Smooth Move to Avignon

We were on the early train from L'Isle sur la Sorgue to Avignon, and walked to our new AirBnb apartment. This one is the best one yet, and the owner, Eric, was just so welcoming and fun. 

Then we took off to explore the town, and, of course, started with Les Halles, the covered market. It is about half the size of the one in Dijon, but has the same quality and variety. We will have fun shopping there for meals. The outside wall is covered in greenery... no idea how they do that but it's very cool.

Avignon is a beautiful city with lots of history. There are squares everywhere filled with cafes, and since today was a perfect weather day, they were all filled. 

Since we've been here, we've seen more tour groups and heard more American English than we have since we arrived in France. It's a popular place for tourists to visit either as a day trip or to stay longer.

We had some soup and a great sandwich at L'Epicerie de Ginette, and then we walked to the Avignon Bridge that was started in the 12th century!!

Then our legs gave out and we knew we had to rest. We've been back at the apartment unpacking and getting ready for dinner. Yes, we travel to eat. 

Some Random Thoughts and A Day Trip to Fontaine de Vaucluse

Just a few thoughts/observations:

French people play by the rules. They only cross at crosswalks. The only people jaywalking are tourists, and most of us figure out that this is not what we're supposed to do here, so we follow the locals. Drivers are considerate and when pedestrians are crossing, they always stop. And they are considerate of other drivers too - even to the busses we ride which seem to take up multiple lanes.

The streets in the center part of the city are washed every night. There is no litter, and people go out of their way to use the garbage cans scattered around. Even when we're driving along the roads on the bus, we'll look out the window and see nothing on the side of the road. Why can't we do this?

Everyone has dogs. Most are very well behaved and some walk along next to their owner off leash even with other dogs around. Dogs seem to be welcome in restaurants and shops. Of course, this is probably also why the streets are washed every night.

The streets are empty early in the morning. Our internal clocks get us up pretty early and we go to bed early. The locals are on a different schedule, sleeping later, eating later, and staying up later. But we love those quiet mornings around town.

Why can't we in the US make a decent baguette? And sell them for $1? Why don't we have boulangeries on every street? 

How did we ever navigate without smart phones and Google maps? Did we really walk around with paper maps trying to figure out where we were? Yup, we did. And having the bus and train schedules available at all times... a necessity. The 1990's version of me would have not believed it all to be possible. I have an app on my phone that helps find public bathrooms. And another one that will find a place for us to store our luggage. I haven't used either one yet but I have them just in case. 

Back to today....

Before heading out of town, we did a little shopping for dinner. Bought some soup and quiche and a piece of this amazing looking pistachio flan:

Our AirBnb is just off a square that is in the center of L'Isle sur la Sorgue, and in the center of the square is a church called Collegiale Notre-Dame-des-Anges. The outside has some interesting lines and angles, and we've noticed them especially at night.. see photo back a few posts. But otherwise, it's a simple exterior. That is why we were blown away when we went inside this morning. It is extremely ornate with gold everywhere! According to Google, it is "one of the most magnificent examples of 17th century Provencal Baroque architecture in the south of France". Our jaws dropped.

We grabbed a bus and took for Fontaine-de-Vaucluse, a 10-minute ride east. It's the Sorgue River that runs around L'Isle sur la Sorgue, and the source of the river is a spring in Fontaine-de-Vaucluse. It's short walk from the village and is considered to be the largest spring in France and one of the largest in the world. Several divers and robots have gone down into the spring to try to find the source but they can't get deep enough. Pretty fascinating. It's no longer an option to walk all the way to the source due to falling rocks (no thanks) but we were able to walk the pathway almost there. It is a beautiful day, and the water is crystal clear. And the trees were beautiful.... anyway, it was so very pretty there. I'm very glad we made the trip.

Because we can't walk to the source, they had a live webcam set up so you can see what it looks like. This is a photo of the screen:

The river is lined with little restaurants, but this time of year, most are closed. I'd read about a little place people liked call Snack the Big Fred, so we made the mistake of going there for a sandwich. Kind of a greasy mess, but we did find some good ice cream.

Speaking of public restrooms, I thought this was an interesting placement of the urinals outside of the bathrooms by the parking lot. 

Greg chose not to use them.

 

While waiting for the bus, we met a woman about our age, travelling alone. She is from Australia, and is using public transportation like us to travel all over Provence. Pretty impressive.

Dinner will be at home tonight. Tomorrow morning we move out of this apartment, train to Avignon, and settle in there for 4 nights.