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.

A Day Trip to Carpentras and the Via Venasissia

Dinner last night was as we expected... wonderful. No pictures since we basically ordered the same things we did a few nights ago. But this is the church at the end of our street that is so pretty - and even prettier at night.

After a meeting of the planning committee this morning, we decided to make a few changes to our original plans. It was time for me to get back on the horse (aka bike), and it was a picture perfect day to do so. We took a bus to Carpentras, a town north of us. The bus schedules never exactly work the way we want them to, but we are just rolliing with it and doing what we can. Public transportation is still better than navigating these small towns with narrow streets and weird parking signs we don't understand.

We spent some time exploring the town and then found a wonderful place to have lunch while we waiting for the bike shop to open.

The folks at the bike shop were great! Not a lot of English spoken but a lot of pointing and really bad French on our part. But we were able to tell them we wanted to ride on the Via Venasissia, a paved bike trail that runs all the way from Orange to Velleron. We hoped to ride just a part of it. I did opt for an ebike again, but this one was smaller, lighter, and easy for me to handle. It was a great ride. Here are a few photos from the afternoon:

OK, I'll never figure out how to do a selfie. 

A great day! We're pooped so dinner was leftover paella and wine and whatever we can find in the fridge. And a hot shower!!

A Day Trip to Le Thor

It's Monday and we have three more days here in L'Isle sur la Sorgue. The weather today is perfect for our plans... to travel to the town west of us and go for a hike up a hill. We hit a snag when we learned that the trains going west were down but fortunately there was a bus a little later, and that worked out. The joys of traveling without a car.

Le Thor is a tiny town that is also on the Sorgue River. I'd read about an out-of-the-way place for lunch called the Chicken Box where a lady serves marinated chicken in sandwiches, wraps, bowls and tacos. She was a sweet woman who helped us communicate through our pointing and sign language. We shared a chicken sandwich that was delicious.

Le Thor is so tiny that it took a few blocks and we were out of town. Here's a few shots ot the city center.

The hike was a little challenging up the hill mostly due to the rocky trail, but we got a good workout. There were some beautiful and different trees and bushes along the path. And an old castle at the top of the hill.

Made it back to Le Thor in time for the earlier bus, sat by the river for a bit to watch the ducks in L'Isle sur la Sorgue, and now we're home until dinner - the return to O'Bamon. Looking forward to that! And another day trip tomorrow.

The Best Dinner and An Amazing Market Day

Last night's dinner somehow surpassed the one from the night before. We went to Restaurant La Libellule (the dragonfly) which is a small little place just around the corner from our apartment. The two women serving and greeting were charming, and the food was excellent. We shared yet another egg starter. This one I plan to try to recreate at home somehow. Braised leeks, cheese, and a baked egg. We each had a main course, veal with risotto and chicken with pureed potatoes. Both fabulous. We tried to make another reservation for a different night but they were booked. We'll keep trying (begging).

I took photos of the chicken and veal but really... you can't even tell what they are. But here's happy guy enjoying his meal.

When we walked home after dinner, the streets were empty and quiet. But this morning when we woke up, the squares and all the little streets were jammed with vendors. It is market day! And while we have been to lots of European markets, this one could be the best. The colors, the smells... just wow! We spent the whole day wandering among the crowds. We bought supplies for lunch and dinner today (paella). There was also an antique section and I did find another napkin ring! Hard to negotiate price in French but I did my best.

And this was last night when things were still quiet. Sitting along the river in one of the many cafes.

A Long Travel Day But a Great Start in L'Isle Sur La Sorgue

Three train rides, some delays and missed trains, and shlepping bags but we are here in L'Isle Sur la Sorgue, and so far, we love it. We will spend today exploring the town since we haven't seen more than our square. Our apartment is delightful with no low ceilings or weird toilet arrangements. And dinner last night at O'Bamon was so delightful that we made reservations for Monday night! The restaurant is owned by a young couple; he's the cook and she is everything out front. We started with pea soup and a baked egg dish for our first courses. Both were excellent but the egg dish was the big winner. Very gooey and cheesy and the prefect comfort food. It's early morning as I write this and and I'd love to have another one right now. 

Greg had pork tenderloin which was excellent and delicious sides, roasted squash and sunchokes. I had cod with pistachios on top that was sitting on pureed potatoes and braised leeks. Just a great dinner. 

A few hours later...

BB, you are so right! This is a beautiful town and I can see why it is one of your favorites. We walked around early this morning, and here are a couple of shots:

Our Final Full Day in Dijon, A Day of Transition, and Introduction to L'Isle-Sur-La-Sorgue

We spent most of our last full day in Dijon getting ready to move to Provence, but we did stop at our favorite coffee place (Wolf Coffee) and had a chance to chat with the owner. He's been so welcoming and kind to us, and starts making our flat whites as soon as he sees us come in. He wears a hat every day (he says he's losing his hair) and you can see the one he has on today. We told him how much we loved his city, and he expressed his love for Dijon saying it was one of the best examples of a mid-sized city in France that is clean, safe, and is in a desirable location. So true.

We spent the bulk of the day doing laundry, picking up and eating quiche for lunch, and starting to pack. Mid-afternoon, we walked to the Cathedrale Saint-Benigne to take a tour of rotunda. The church is massive and beautiful with an organ like I've never seen! Would love to hear it but guess I'm too late to try to find a time to do that. The tour of the rotunda was long and in French, and while the guide tried to give us a summery in English, it was was way too long for us. 

And if you're wondering "Ou est la Biblioteque?" It's here.

Beautiful reading room.

We had high hopes for our last dinner in Dijon but were very disappointed. L'Age de Raisin... just a few blocks from our apartment. It's a cute, cozy place and the owner was friendly and welcoming. We shared escargot which was fine but then it went downhill from there. Greg had Coq au Vin which was served with small helpings of several well prepared veggies. But the chicken was a small, unnameable part that was mostly bone and very little meat. The sauce was fabulous but that was about it. I had some au gratin dish that was supposed to have potatoes, mushrooms, and sausage. It was 90% potatoes which I like but... not that much. A very nice plum tart for dessert. 

The brown glob on the right was Greg's chicken. The brown glob on the left was nicely done eggplant.

We have eaten well here with all of the pastries, sandwiches, fresh fruit, quiches, prepared foods from the market, etc. But our dinners haven't been as wonderful as we imagined. We're hoping this changes.