Day 3: Avignon, Pont du Gard

I had booked our train tickets for Avignon online 6 months before the trip. We grabbed a cab early and arrived at Gare de Lyon in plenty of time (read: early!) for our trip on the TGV (Train 6171 - 8:04 to 10:43 - $222 for both of us). We chose 2nd class reserved seats and were glad we did, as the other cars with unreserved seats looked annoying for people with luggage.

We made the 650km+ trip in about two and half hours - wow. The Avignon TGV station was relatively newly built, and it was spectacular: huge, clean and laid out perfectly. They had gradual ramps that led down to the rental car area, and everything was well labeled. I had reserved our car online at National, and it went off without a hitch.

Driving for the first time in France was a bit of a challenge at first, but we quickly got used to the signage and found it to be quite easy and enjoyable. We made our way inside the walls of the old city of Avignon to our hotel. We booked the Hôtel le Cloitre Saint Louis from Venere again, and it was quite a historic looking place. We decided to go a little more upscale in Provence, and the hotel was billed as 4 stars at about 100 euros a night. Here's a picture of Beth in the courtyard of the hotel:

We walked up the main street in Avignon, Rue de la Republique, which was like a mini Champs Élysées.

The street ends in a square called Place de l'Orlage, where we had lunch at a small cafe called Les Arts.

After lunch we explored the area around Place de l'Orlage, including the famous Palais des Papes. Avignon was home to the Popes in the early 1300's, which eventually leads to the story of Chateau-neuf-du-Pape later on. We ended up in a garden 100 meters above the Rhône River and overlooking the Pont d'Avignon.

Since it was Sunday, most of the shops were closed, but we walked around the little streets to the East of the Place de l'Orlage which were very cool. We headed back for a quick rest (nap for Beth, the Vuelta d'Espana for me, which was sweet since it's never on TV at home). On the way home, we passed a movie theater. When I was in Asia, I always loved seeing movie posters for American movies redone for the local market. In Thailand and India, they would paint the actors and make them look a little heavier, as it made them appear "better looking" and wealthier.

In the afternoon, we decided to venture out to the Pont du Gard, an amazing Roman aqueduct built in the first century(!). I had seen pictures of the UNESCO heritage site before, but like many great structures, pictures did it no justice. We walked around the site for a couple of hours, taking it all in!