Maison Boussingaul B&B, Avignon: 43°56’45.4″N 4°48’12.3″E

(39 Rue Boussingault, 84000 Avignon, France)

We were up early again this morning and had breakfast with Bruce and Barb at the B&B. Piccolo, the house cat, joined us for breakfast & claimed Bruce’s seat cushion as soon as it hit the floor because his (Piccolo’s) was wet from being in the rain the night before.

John Paul is an excellent host and served us another delicious breakfast. Today Catherine and I plan to explore Avignon while Bruce and Barb were getting ready to do a bit of driving and visit Gordes, a picturesque mountain village about 30 minute drive away.

Catherine and I walked into the old city in search of a nearby residential area where a stream ran past the front of houses. At one time there were 23 water wheels on the stream that were providing “power” to the fabric industry looms.

Our next stop is to visit the main public market in the center of the city. This is a very large indoor market with a couple of dozen food stalls selling cheese, fruit, vegetables, fish, meat, bread, pastries and prepared foods – fantastic!

I wish our market in London was like that. While we were there Catherine bumped into John Paul who was there shopping for some of our breakfast foods for the next morning – including a special type of Camembert cheese that he wanted with us to try with his homemade jam.

The market also had a “living wall” on the side of the building facing a public square. By coincidence, the day that we were visiting was also a flea market set up in the public square.

There were lots of vendors there selling small antiques, books, jewelry and a whole variety of other things. We browsed through the flea market but everything that I found interesting was way too big to bring home.

We stopped for lunch at a small café nearby and Catherine had a really nice quiche that she shared with me and I had an espresso.

After lunch we walked up the hill to the Papal Palace which overlooks the city. There was a tourist “train” parked outside the entrance to the palace – similar to the one we took in Beziers a few days ago, but this one was shorter. Uncle Bud, you might have a good chance a driving this one – I’ll call it the CPR (Catholic Pope Railway). You can show them your CV as a professional CPR (Canadian Pacific Railway) engineer & they might “fast-track you into a senior position .

The Catholic Church relocated the Papacy from Rome to Avignon from 1309 to 1377. They were motivated to do this because the church wanted protect the area south of the Rhône River which was considered to be Papal territory and the north side of the Rhône River was considered to be France.

In 1378 the church chose to return the Pope to Rome for “political” reasons.  However, the Palace Palace in Avignon remained an important part of the Catholic Church for the next 300 years.

We didn’t bother taking the tour inside the palace because there were pretty long lines to get in and by that time we were beginning to be “museumed out”. Instead we decided to climb a bit higher up the mountain to get some fantastic views of the city and the Rhône River below.

We also found a very quiet cafe in the park overlooking the city. A great place to stop for a rest in a cool drink.

After relaxing break we walked back down the mountain and eventually found our way back to the B&B. Early in the evening we had a wonderful dinner at a nearby restaurant with Bruce and Barb to celebrate our holiday together. Sadly, this was our last night together in France.

Tomorrow Catherine and I leave for Lyon. Bruce & Barb will stay in Avignon for another day & then head back to Paris for their flight home.

Cheers!

Maison Boussingaul B&B, Avignon: 43°56’45.4″N 4°48’12.3″E

(39 Rue Boussingault, 84000 Avignon, France)

Arles Tourism Office in City Center: 43°40’29.5″N 4°37’40.9″E

It took us about 45 minutes to drive from our B&B to the Tourism Office in Arles. Lots of roundabouts along the way. We’re getting pretty good at navigating with the GPS device but whenever we enter a roundabout we are still a bit uncertain as to exactly which exit we need to take to continue on our way.

When we arrived in Arles the GPS was directing us to a museum that we wanted to stop at first but unfortunately the street that leads to the museum parking lot was closed & under repair. There was no alternate route to that location so it was pretty confusing as to what we should do. We ultimately gave up trying to find the museum parking lot & instead reprogrammed the GPS to take us to the main car park garage in the center of the city.

Arles is a very nice city with lots of history and interesting architecture but it is much bigger and busier than we thought it would be. We picked up a tourism pass & headed out on foot to see the sites. Catherine had identified several things that we wanted to see.

Vincent Van Gough lived in the city for about 18 months & then he had a mental breakdown & was hospitalized in the city for another year. During the 2 1/2 years he was in Arles he produced several paintings that are considered to be some of his best work. Unfortunately the house where he lived was destroyed during WW II but the buildings that served as a hospital are still there. After Van Gough had been diagnosed as mentally ill he lived in the hospital while he was being treated for his illness. One of his famous paintings is of the hospital’s courtyard. The courtyard is still there but the plantings are much different now.

PHOTO ABOVE – THE COURTYARD GARDEN PAINTED BY VAN GOUGH PAINTED DURING HIS CONVALESCENCE (COPIED FROM THE INTERNET)

PHOTO ABOVE – THE COURTYARD GARDEN AS IT IS TODAY

Arles also has several famous Roman ruins – all within relatively easy walking distance of each other. The colosseum is remarkably well preserved & it was fascinating to be able to walk through it. The facility is still used for events but thankfully there are no gladiator battles or people being attacked by wild animals. It is hard to imagine those things ever took place here so many centuries ago.

PHOTO ABOVE – THE EXTERIOR OF THE COLOSSEUM

 

PHOTO ABOVE – THE MAIN COLOSSEUM AREA – SEATED ABOUT 20,000 PEOPLE

PHOTO ABOVE – VIEW OF THE CORRIDORS UNDERNEATH THE SEATING AREA

Our next stop was to view the Roman theater. It is not as well preserved as the colosseum but is still very impressive & is still used today for live entertainment concerts & plays.

PHOTO ABOVE – VIEW OF THE ROMAN THEATRE

Our final stop was to see the remains of the Roman baths. This structure has also deteriorated quite a bit & what remains today is only about 1/4 of its original size.

PHOTO ABOVE – PARTIAL REMAINS OF THE ROMAN BATHS

There was one more monument on our day pass to see and we decided to see the Cloister of St Trophime constructed in the 12th century, still an oasis of peace in a busy city.

PHOTO ABOVE – THE EXTERIOR OF THE CHURCH AND ADJACENT CLOISTURE

PHOTO ABOVE – A PILGRIM RESTING BRIEFLY IN THE CLOISTER CORRIDOR

The Rhone River passes through Arles and we were able to get a break from the afternoon heat by walking alongside the river on a broad bank. The Rhone looked huge compared to the Canal du Midi with substantially larger boats on it.

PHOTO ABOVE THE RHONE RIVER WITH MY NEXT CHARTER BOAT PASSING BY

PHOTO ABOVE AN INTERESTING FACADE OF A RESIDENCE BESIDE THE RIVER

After walking along the canal for a kilometer or two we were pretty much done for the day. Getting lost seemed to be the theme. It’s a good thing we have unlimited mileage on the car as we took some wrong exits on a few of the roundabouts on our way back “home” and had to rely on the GPS to eventually get us back to Avignon. But it worked out well because we ended up on smaller roads alongside the Rhone River & past fields of sunflowers, vineyards, olive groves and roads lined with plane trees.

There were even more opportunities to see the Rhone as we went back and forth over the bridge to the city five times before we finally got in the correct lanes. Afternoon traffic was heavy and it started to rain hard. The GPS was going hoarse repeating the same instructions over and over again. I’m sure it would have yelled at us in French if it could have. Fifi the Fiat didn’t seem to mind and eventually we made it back to our B&B, Maison Boussignault.

I think we will leave the car parked tomorrow & instead of driving anywhere we will do a walking tour of Avignon.

Cheers!

Hotel d’Aragon in Montpellier: 43°36’30.1″N 3°52’54.9″E

(10 Rue Baudin, 34000 Montpellier, France)

Pont du Gard Historic Site en Route to Avignon: 43°56’50.4″N 4°32’07.2″E

Maison Boussingaul B&B, Avignon: 43°56’45.4″N 4°48’12.3″E

(39 Rue Boussingault, 84000 Avignon, France)

We had an early breakfast so we could get started on our drive from Montpelier to Avignon before there was much traffic on the roads. We were hoping that traffic in the city and on the highways would be lighter because it was early Sunday morning. Fortunately that proved to be the case. It only took us about 90 minutes to drive the 86 kilometers from our hotel to the Pont du Gard UNESCO world heritage historic site.

The Pont du Gard is a viaduct (bridge) that was built by the Romans over 2,200 years ago. The bridge has three tiers of arches & stands 48.8 m (160 ft) high. The aqueduct formerly carried an estimated 40,000 m3 (8,800,000 imp gal) of water a day over 50 km (31 mi) to the fountains, baths and homes of the citizens of Nîmes. 

PHOTO ABOVE –  PONT DU GARD

PHOTO ABOVE – PERSPECTIVE OF SIZE OF THE PONT DU GARD NOTE THE PEOPLE ON THE MIDDLE OF THE BRIDGE

It’s hard to imagine how this structure was built so long ago. It is absolutely massive and very well preserved. The individual stones used to build it are enormous. Catherine and I walked around the site and viewed the viaduct from both sides of the river. We were fortunate to be there on a national heritage holiday for France so there was no admission fee to the site or to the site’s visitor center/interpretive museum.

We also toured the visitor center/interpretive museum. It is exceptionally well done with numerous video presentations and static displays. This entire site is well worth the effort to visit & you could easily spend most of the day exploring it.

It only took us about 30 minutes to drive about 25 kilometers from the site to our B&B. Getting into the city was relatively easy but finding our B&B proved to be a bit of a challenge because the entrance to it is located in a very narrow alley that is not normally driven on by local traffic. After circling through the area a few times I found a place on the street to pull over that was very close to where our GPS was telling us that “we had arrived at our destination”. Catherine hopped out of the car to try & find the B&B. A few minutes later she came back with our host & he guided us to our overnight parking spot that was just a 2 minute walk from where we were staying.

Our room was not quite ready so our host directed us to a nearby restaurant where we could get something to eat & then back to the B&B for a bit of a rest. A few hours later Barb & Bruce arrived from their adventures & after getting settled we all headed out for dinner.

PHOTO ABOVE – CATHERINE POINTING TOWARDS OUR B&B ENTRANCE FOR BRUCE & BARB

PHOTO ABOVE – OUR PRIVATE COURTYARD AT OUR B&B

Tomorrow Catherine & I go to Arles to explore the city & its historic sites.

Cheers!

Lattes (Locaboat Marina): 43°34’21.2″N 3°53’57.9″E

Hotel d’Aragon in Montpellier: 43°36’30.1″N 3°52’54.9″E
(10 Rue Baudin, 34000 Montpellier, France)

We were up at 7 o’clock this morning because we had to return the boat to Locaboat at 9 AM. After breakfast the crew gathered up all of our belongings and did one last final inspection to make sure there was nothing left behind. We arranged for a taxi to take us to our hotel in Montpelier.

We were sad to say adieu to our little boat named “Roubia” but glad that we had the Canal du Midi adventure on her and were now looking forward to the next phase of our trip.

On our way to the hotel I noticed that the taxi driver often just slowed down for “STOP” signs & then proceeded to drive through the intersection if it was safe. It is surprising that all STOP signs in France say “STOP” instead of “ARRET” like they do in Quebec.

PHOTO ABOVE – FRANCE “STOP” SIGN

Our taxi driver did not speak much English so I used Google Translate to ask him why he was not stopping at the STOP signs. I also explained to him that in Quebec, Canada the STOP signs say “ARRET” instead of STOP and that drivers must stop at all STOP signs. He smiled & replied that here in France a STOP sign is only a suggestion!  I’ll have to be sure to remember that over the next few weeks!

Our hotel in Montpellier is only a 5 minute walk from Esplanade Charles de Gaulle which is in the center of the old city. Our hotel is very clean & comfortable but the room is small. The Esplanade is a very vibrant place with beautiful architecture, lots of shops and restaurants, and also very close to the main train station serving the city.

PHOTO ABOVE – HOTEL D’ARGON (COPIED FROM INTERNET)

PHOTO ABOVE – ESPLANADE CHARLES DE GAULLE

We had arranged to pick up a rental car at the Montpellier train station & we would use it for the next couple of weeks to explore other parts of France. We had to wait a few hours to pick up the car so Cath & I went looking for a place to grab a bite to eat. We found a nice cafe on a side street from the Esplanade & had the most amazing smoked salmon with goat cheese on focaccia bread. Wow, if I lived in Montpelier I would be eating at this place at least once a week!

PHOTO ABOVE – OUR LUNCH IN MONTPELLIER

When it was time to pick up our rental car we were given a nice little Fiat 500 – just the right size for driving down all the narrow roads & streets we were going to encounter.

PHOTO ABOVE – OUR FIAT 500 THAT WE HAVE NICKNAMED “FIFI” FOR THIS ADVENTURE

Five minutes after picking up the car we found ourselves lost & I took a wrong turn that landed us on a roadway that was intended only for city tram/trains. I’ll blame that mistake on our GPS being slow to update our location because of the narrow streets & buildings blocking the GPS satellite signals. Thankfully traffic was light & a local pedestrian took pity & helped us get turned around & headed in the right direction. A few minutes later we were safely parked in the garage for the night. Time for a stiff drink to celebrate our arrival!

Later in the afternoon we caught up with Barb & Bruce & we went for a walkabout to see some more city sights & to have a light dinner.

PHOTO ABOVE ESPLANDE CHARLES DE GAULLE

PHOTO ABOVE – OUR FINE DINING ESTABLISHMENT ON THE ESPLANADE

The food at our restaurant was surprisingly good & very reasonably priced.

Tomorrow we hit the road to Avignon!

Cheers!

Frontignan Canalside: 43°26’40.3″N 3°45’35.0″E

Lattes (Locaboat Marina): 43°34’21.2″N 3°53’57.9″E

Today would be our last day traveling on the boat. Technically, we have left the Canal du Midi & the Etang du Thau & are now traveling on five connecting bodies of water – four Etangs & finally north on the River Lez to the Locaboat Marina in Lattes.

SCREENSHOT ABOVE FROM GOOGLE MAPS SHOWING CANAL CHANNEL THROUGH THE ETANGS

Today was also another day where we discovered that there were several more interesting spots for us to moor the boat overnight that were not that far from where we stayed in Frontignan. Oh well, next time (wink, wink).

All of the sailboats moored along the canal walls made it very evident that we were close to the Mediterranean Sea.

PHOTO ABOVE – SAILBOATS MOORED ALONG THE CANAL WALLS JUST BEFORE THE ETANGS

The Etangs we were traveling through today were much shallower than the Etang de Thau. Now we were back to traveling in a canal channel that was dredged right through the Etangs waters. The banks on each side of the canal were substantially comprised of the dredged materials protected from erosion by kilometers of hand built cut-stone walls. The scale of this work is astonishing & it is hard to imagine this kind of project being undertaken by any government in this day & age.

PHOTO ABOVE – HAND LAID STONEWALLS PROTECTING THE CANAL BANKS

The shallow Etangs are a perfect habitat for a variety of bird species & we were especially excited to see large groups of pink flamingos feeding & resting in these waters. These beautiful birds were a familiar sight over the next several hours. I was wondering what a group of flamingos was called so I Googled it. Turns out the proper term is a “flamboyance” – very appropriate. Apparently flamingos get their pink colour as a result of eating so many shrimp. I wonder if I will eventually turn pinkish-grey because of all the Spam that I eat.

PHOTO ABOVE – PINK FLAMINGOS IN THE ETANG ADJACENT TO THE CANAL CHANNEL

We were about 1 hour into our canal journey when we came across a nature reserve that separates the Etang from the Mediterranean Sea. We tied up the boat at the designated mooring point & went exploring.

 

PHOTO ABOVE – BRUCE GETTING READY TO DO SOME LAND BASED BIRDING

PHOTO ABOVE – SOME OF THE MARSHLANDS IN THE NATURE RESERVE 

There were lots of other species of birds as well as a flock of sheep that were kept there in a large fenced off area between the sea & the Etang.

PHOTO ABOVE – VISITORS INFORMATION SIGN AT MOORING SPACE

We went to get a look at the Mediterranean Sea only a 5 minute walk from where we were moored. The water looked so enticing that Cath & Barb had a swim at the beautiful beach there. Bruce & I stuck to staying on shore.

PHOTO ABOVE – THE NATURE RESERVE BEACH ON THE MEDITERRANEAN SEA

After a nice break at the reserve we got back underway towards our destination. The boat had to be returned to Locaboat by 9:00am the next morning but we decided to arrive in Lattes this afternoon & spend our last night on board while we were in the marina. That would make things a lot easier for the return process & for us to get all of our belongings sorted out & packed away.

The final lock that we had to go through was only about 1 km from the marina in Lattes. It only operated until 4:30pm but we got through in plenty of time.

PHOTO ABOVE – THE MARINA IN LATTES – THE JOURNEY HAS ENDED 🙁

After we arrived at the marina I checked in with the Locaboat staff & informed them that we would be staying on board overnight. We spent the rest of the afternoon doing laundry & cleaning up the boat. Not a very glamorous conclusion to our cruise but certainly a necessity.

Barb whipped up a delicious frittata & salad that matched perfectly with a bottle of wine we had picked up to celebrate our last night on board. Laundry & other mundane chores were forgotten & replaced with good food, good wine & many memories created with dear friends

Tomorrow we are on to the next phase of our adventures in France – exploring part of the country by car!

Cheers!