Exploring Around Avignon

Exploring Around Avignon.jpg

Heading To Avignon

We used Avignon as our base to explore for this stop on our 3 week tour of France. After our wild trip through the Verdun Gorge, we settled into our hotel.

For dinner, we got a reservation for an Italian restaurant (La Strada) just down the street. We were told it was walking distance.  But by now we came to distrust the French sense of distance. The directions seemed clear.  But we missed the turn into the mall.  We ended up on the round about and then took the wrong exit on the roundabout trying to get back where we came from. So off we headed with no clue where.

We took the first exit thinking we could turn around.  But ended up lost in some medieval fortress exploring around Avignon.  The roads were single car width roads.  But David showed he could manage these narrow paths. We finally got on “town” roads and managed to find a larger road with a gas station. On asking for directions, David was told he was “almost there”.  But we still did one more large loop before we came again to the same gas station.  And right after that our hotel! Walking certainly would have been much faster!!

Finding The Bridge Exploring Around Avignon

After a full breakfast at the hotel (squirrelling away pastries for snacks later in the day), we assessed the options we had for our day.  Did we want old things, more mountain things (Mount Ventoux is the largest peak in the region) or a trip back to the sea?

It was drizzly in the morning so we headed into the old town as our first stop exploring around Avignon. Since we seemed to like to walk to our sightseeing destinations, we parked on the outskirts. But of course the shuttle bus was not yet running – so off we walked.

This walk allowed us the first of several dozen views and angles for the Pont du Avignon for David’s photographic zeal.

Exploring Around Avignon.jpg

We got over 70 images of the bridge to sort thru to find one or two perfect pics before the day was done. The only pics we didn’t get were on the bridge itself.  Because we would have had to pay for that pleasure.

Pont d'Avignon - Exploring Around Avignon.jpg

Pont d'Avignon - Exploring Around Avignon.jpg

Wandering Around The Palais Du Papes

After the bridge we started to walk up (again) to the Palais du Papes. The popes had temporarily located here.  They built both in the old city and across the river by Les Angles at Villeneuve de Avignon. The palace was closed so we just strolled the grounds.

Papal Palace - Exploring Around Avignon.jpg

Papal Palace.jpg

Papal Palace.jpg

We visited the Musee du Petite Palace.  It was packed with very old religious paintings, amazing in their detail and colour. This first view of art for the day contrasted sharply with the bright airy watercolour art we saw later in the day. As we wandered through we found ourselves being shuffled to the exit so they could close.

Musee du Petit Palais.jpg

Musee du Petit Palais - Exploring Around Avignon.jpg

Musee du Petit Palais - Exploring Around Avignon.jpg

AvignonMuseeArt3-2016-01-22-13-00.jpg

Views From Above Avignon

The ramparts provided us with views in many directions.  We got a higher perspective on the Pont, a view of Villeneuve across the river (including the fort) and mountains in the distance we saw later that day.

Pont D'Avignon View - Exploring Around Avignon.jpg

Pont D'Avignon View.jpg

Everywhere David stopped to set up a unique picture angle, the “sheep” tourists scurried in. We took to “baa-ing” when it became evident it was happening again. While we searched to add it to David’s growing sign collection, we never did find one of the “beware of sheep” signs we saw while driving in the mountains.

Sheep.jpg

We would have to make do with the stone sheep “gargoyle” that watched over us as we walked the grounds.

The ramparts led us down the spiral staircase – an engineering curiosity to me.

Spiral Stairs.jpg

A Stop For Lunch

By this time it was now past 2pm again.  And we had yet to find lunch as we were exploring around Avignon.

We found a charming courtyard and were entertained by Tony. It turned out he had a restaurant close to our hotel and knew the receptionist there. He continued to correct our French and teach us Italian thru our lunch – ensuring we ordered “due cappuccini”.

David sent me with the camera to the bathroom to meet the girl with the big boobs adorning the bathroom wall. I tried to artistically get him a comparison shot.

AvignonLindamirror-2016-01-22-13-00.jpg

A Visit To The Paul Signac Museum

We headed off exploring around Avignon, map in hand to the other side of the old town.  We passed thru a quite interesting built up part, teeming with visitors shopping at chain stores housed on ancient streets. The Musee housed a special large collection of art by Paul Signac.

Signac was impressionistic in most of his work, with an odd scattering of other styles. His work was bright, colourful and depicted many scenes familiar from our trip around the south of France. Much different from the darker religious art we saw at the Palace Musee earlier in the day. The rest of the museum included some other Impressionist work, all housed in the original house of the patrons.

Paul Signac Musee.jpg

Paul Signac Musee - Exploring Around Avignon.jpg

Paul Signac Musee - Exploring Around Avignon.jpg

Paul Signac Musee - Exploring Around Avignon.jpg

Seeking Chocolate in Wine Country

It was late in the afternoon.  But with brochures in one hand and a new map in the other, we plotted our next stop exploring around Avignon.

David had been drooling over the brochure for the chocolate factory outside of Chateauneuf du Pape, so off we headed in that direction. It was easy to see we were headed into wine country. It was approaching harvest season and many of the fields had vines hung heavy with grapes. We saw the large conveyor belt that took the grapes from the field. Wine making in this region was a serious business.

Wine Region - Exploring Around Avignon.jpg

Wine Region.jpg

The new map we picked up had lots of detail, so David’s navigation was precise. A quick ride thru town revealed a ton of wine tasting cellars that didn’t draw us in.

Wine Region.jpg

But we did not find a hint of chocolate. We decided to park the car and walked thru the little town. The lady at the convenience store sent us back to the car, saying the chocolate factory was out of town.

After one wrong turn we finally found the shop and got there just before closing.  We begged to be allowed our shopping spree. David was indeed a kid in a candy store. We left the town famous for its wine, having sampled and shopped only for chocolate!

Sunset At Gordes

There was one more “site” on my list for this day of exploring around Avignon.  So we checked the map and decided we could fit one more stop in. We headed for higher ground.

Heading to Gordes - Exploring Around Avignon.jpg

The route was easy – follow D100 at toute le choix. It was a race to beat the sunset. David thought he was off to see an aqueduct.  But we were visiting the perched ancient town of Gordes and not the aqueduct at Pont du Gard.

It became evident as we turned the corner and saw the steep rocks with the town cascading down the sides. It was a marvellous sight.  But we found no place on the narrow road to stop until we were well up the hill in the town.

We parked and headed off at a fast pace down the hill and tried to beat the quickly fading light. We walked all the way down to the start of town and got our pics.  The light was fading and the lights slowly illuminated the town. And then we had to climb back up the hill again – of course!

Gordes - Exploring Around Avignon.jpg

Gordes - Exploring Around Avignon.jpg

Our stomachs growled as we searched at 8:30pm for a spot for dinner in a place that was not full. We found a near empty place with lots of character.  Although it’s emptiness caused us to wonder why.  We ended up with the full attention of the owner, serenaded by the Brazilian band.  Staff danced on the patio and tried to draw in more diners.

It was a cautious drive home on dark, narrow, twisty roads.  And then we hit the main N7 route into Avignon. It was a full day exploring around Avignon.

Touring the Mediterranean At Cassis

The next day dawned warm and sunny so our destination choice was easy. We headed back down to the Mediterranean coast. The first stop on this day exploring around Avignon was the village of Cassis.

We hopped on the Autoroute until we got close to the shore.  And then we wound our way through the steep part of town. It was Sunday and there was a bike race along the coast. So parking was a challenge.  This meant parking on the hill (beside yet another cemetery) before we walked down to the port.

It was a busy bustling port. We watched several dive boats returning or leaving.  We were sure they headed out to explore walls and caves. David found a “Juliette” boat – to go with our hotel Juliette shots.

Cassis Boat Trip.jpg

Cassis Boat Trip.jpg

A Boat Tour In Cassis

We wanted to take a boat trip to see the famed “calanques” or cliffs.  So we settled for the one hour trip which proved to be more than enough. The cliffs and inlets were indeed very cool, with evidence of caves and caverns above and likely below.

Cassis Boat Trip - Exploring Around Avignon.jpg

Cassis Boat Trip - Exploring Around Avignon.jpg

Cassis Boat Trip - Exploring Around Avignon.jpg

Cassis Boat Trip - Exploring Around Avignon.jpg

Cassis Boat Trip - Exploring Around Avignon.jpg

It was a very nice boat ride for us.  Less fun for the keeners who chose front seats near the water line and ended up scurrying back for shelter from the waves.

Back on shore we posed for the obligatory lighthouse pics.  David decided he would brave the water for a quick swim to cool down. Heading out on the water provided an interesting perspective on exploring around Avignon.

Cassis Boat Trip.jpg

Finally grabbing take-out baguette sandwiches for lunch, we headed along the coast road in the direction of Marseille.

A Visit To Marseille

The last stop in our day exploring around Avignon was Marseille. Entering the city we immediately saw our destination.  Notre Dame shone on high.  But it was a navigation challenge to get through the busy large port city of Marseille.

Marseille Notre Dame.jpg

When we finally picked up the tourist signs pointing us to the site, we made our repeated mistake and parked the car to walk. We misjudged just a little and ended up with a long climb up city streets.  And then we were confronted with yet another vertical ascent on the Notre Dame site itself.  Of course,  we could not pass on a climb to the top observation deck. It was like visiting Notre Dame and Sacre Coeur in Paris – all wrapped in one – all over again!

Marseille Notre Dame - Exploring Around Avignon.jpg

Marseille Notre Dame - Exploring Around Avignon.jpg

Marseille Notre Dame.jpg

Marseille Views From On High

Legs and heart pumping – we did get the great views we came to see.  As we moved around we saw the brilliant sea, the bustling port, the city sprawl and the mountains back in the direction of Cassis. It was truly an amazing sight.

Marseille Notre Dame.jpg

Marseille Notre Dame - Exploring Around Avignon.jpg

This was our last big city stop on this 3 week tour of France so we thought we should do a sightseeing tour. David beat the old ladies for two seats on the Petit Train. And then learned we could only board it at the port. We saw the “hop on hop off” bus and even followed it for a bit.  But we again missed this experience. In the end we just drove through Marseille and the harbour and left it at that.

While there may have been more destinations exploring around Avignon, we decided to settle for a slow drive home thru Salon and no more stops. Enough was enough! We even managed to make it to dinner that night at 7pm for an early quiet night.

A Great Visit Exploring Around Avignon

It was a busy few days exploring around Avignon. On our final day, we got up early and packed to leave Avignon. We headed to spend our last days visiting French wine country.

What was your favourite thing exploring around Avignon? Did you stay within the city or range far and wide as we did? Did we miss anything you things should have been on the list?

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About TravelAtWill 759 Articles
Travel blogger and photographer! Scuba diving, luxury cruising, chocoholic, sea and sunshine addicts, camera attached and just generally curious! Join us on our adventures!

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