Today we are leaving the land of the "acks" - Beynac-et-Cazenac, La Roque-Gageac, Paynac, Vezac, Marcillac, Bergerac, Grogac, Peyrignac, Vitrac.......and so on and on and yack-yack-yack-yack!
We have a long day of driving ahead of us today going from Sarlat to Avignon. Normally Mr. B loves to drive on little back roads & meandering lanes but for today we jump on a toll road so we can arrive at a reasonable hour.
We wiz by amazing countryside castles.....
....and take a small detour to see the Mediterranean (Balearic Sea) and have lunch in the seaside town of Sete. But we are too late.....
.....by the time we park our car and walk to a restaurant near the water, it's after 2 pm!
Everything is shutting down......
But luckily with Mr. B's newly honed language skills he was able to procure us a charcuterie platter with a great glass of wine! Delicieux!!!
They were doing some filming at the outdoor restaurant next to us so we walked over there to have a peek. A big burly guy would walk towards the group of spectators and yell "Quiet on the set!!!" And we were!
We didn't get into Avignon until 6 pm. We had directions to park under the Palace of the Popes and to get there Mr. B had to drive under the wall of the palace through two arches.
We have been to Avignon 4-5 times and we have always stayed at Hotel d'Europe - a luxurious hotel where they see to your every need, you have a valet park your car and deal with your luggage. This trip - thinking of retirement - we decided to stay in a clean but small hotel where we had to bump our luggage across cobblestones from the parking garage and then carry them up three flights of very steep stairs. It worked out fine and the inn keeper was very helpful with ideas on where to eat & things to see.
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| Our banister on our stairs is almost vertical |
It's a beautiful warm evening here and we found a decent place to dine in the large square under the shadow of the Palace of the Popes. We watched people strolling and children riding the merry-go-round!
Did you know that Avignon became the residence of the popes in 1309 when Rome was in chaos?
"Food makes travel so exceptional,
because you get to taste exactly what it's supposed to taste like.
To eat the real Pad Thai or finally have a proper curry
is something pretty amazing."
-- Meghan Markle
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