Avignon - Day Two - Updated times two.

Last night was Frank and Judy's 50th wedding anniversary.  We met for cocktails in the lounge and had a French lesson.  Just some basic French terms and sayings.  Then we headed to dinner.   Had a round table for 6 in a different section.  I had the tomato tart and Bob had Tilapia.  They then played Love and Marriage and brought out two cakes with sparklers on them.  One was for Frank and Judy.  So we all shared in the cake.

After dinner there was a show by the local Gypsies.  We stopped in to take a look but decided to go to the cabin instead.

This morning we were up and to breakfast where we were joined by Ned and Joanne Rankin.  They are from Oakland, CA.  He is a retired Urologist and she is retired Computer Programmer.  They also do a lot of ocean cruises along with river cruises.  Interesting couple.  Frank and Judy joined us and we had a nice conversation.

Tour today is Secrets of Avignon.  This is just a walking tour of the city of Avignon.  We started by crossing the busy street.  In this part of France, the cars stop for you while you cross the street.  Very nice.  And they seem to avoid beeping their horns.

You enter via the wall.  The entire city is surrounded by the ancient wall.  Today the winds were very brisk.  They can almost blow you over.

We walked down some of the old streets.  Many are still cobblestoned.  Makes walking like having a foot massage.  And the streets are very narrow.  I think they may all be one way.  Some of the area streets are restricted to delivery trucks in the morning.

Lots of outdoor cafes.

And squares.

This tower is the only thing left of a building that was torn down to make the square.

In the olden days, you were taxed on the amount of windows you had.  So people would paint them over.  Today some are still the same way.

The different stores used to have something on the outside of the building to let you know what they were selling.  Today it is not possible to change any part of the buildings.

All sorts of hats for sale.  You don't find this type of store in USA.

This is the front of the old butcher shop.

We walked through the Jewish section and we told of the ordeal they had to survive.  They were limited to where they could live.

This is the entrance to the Jewish section.

The market is open until 1pm.  The market is on the first floor and the upper floors are a car park.  Because the people did not like the look of the car park, they planted a garden in front.  Interesting.

This is the front of the market and car park.

Lots of fresh fruits and vegetables.

And pastries.   They all looked great.

All kinds of cheeses.

And of course, chickens.

We walked by many squares in the city.  Lots of outdoor cafes.  With the wind, I thought the food might blow off the plates.  These are hardy folks.

Then to St. Peter's Church.

And finally to the Pope's Palace.  The pope lived in Avignon since he was a French pope.  We did not go into the Palace on this tour.

This is part of the Pope's Palace.  There is nothing left inside except for the Fresco's on the walls.

The soldier and his lady.  Not sure if they dance on the hour like we saw in Germany.

Back to the boat for lunch with the gang.  Then a nap and Bob went back to the town.  Seems he forgot to replace the chip in his camera.  So he wanted to take some pictures.  The pictures I have been posting are all from my cell phone.  They do a terrific job.

This afternoon they are having a doll making demonstration here on board.  Then martini tasting at 25% off.  So we can drink 4 and pay for 3.  Or so Cory says.

Some of the pictures did not upload so I will update  this at a later date.  Enjoy reading until them.

At the port talk we were informed that we would not be leaving Avignon until the morning.  This time of year they have these high winds called Mistrels.  All the time we were docked here there was another river boat right next to us.  Seems it is an older boat and not as powerful as our boat.  So it cannot fight the winds.  So in the morning they will take most of the passengers by bus to a small village while they get another boat to pull the older boat out so we can then leave the dock.  Bob and I have decided to stay on board and watch the moving of the boats.  Then we will dock in the next port and pick up the others.

Dinner was as usual.  Both Bob and I had the duck which was okay.  No soup or dessert for me.

The winds are so bad that the shade structure on the top of the boat made so much noise all day and night long.  Our cabin is the next level down and very noisy.  But finally someone took them down and now it is very nice in the cabin.  Not sure why it took two days for them to notice the noise.