This Sunday afternoon we are going to travel. Back in time, of course, and also to another place. To France. A beautiful country, a lot to offer, history, cities, countryside, sea, mountains, food, wine and music. Some nice musicians are here from that place, that bring great music, as for example @edprivat. When I read something or write a post, which is not a music-related one, I like to listen to music, with the headphones on as I can not concentrate another way. So, usually, I listen to his music, but as well, to some new finds. Right now I am listening to this track, while writing, as what suits better a post about a French city that we visited this summer than music from the same country.
This summer, as some of you already know, we travelled a bit around Europe. Not so much as other years, but still we drove through Spain, France, Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Hungary and back. It was a trip to visit family and friends. Along the way, we stopped at places where we found it interesting, and also where hours of driving led to fatigue. Usually, we plan ahead where will we stay and reserve the places in advance where we want to sleep. But coming back to Spain, we took a different route and without a lot of planning.
We had it clear, that we want to change the usual one because on many roads works through Italy, as I already mentioned in one post, so we took the road on the northern part of Italy, slept in Monza then the next day drove to France. We haven't reserved a hotel for the second day, and well, there was almost nothing to choose from. Everything was +300 eu per night in Montpellier where we wanted to rest. The only one, with an acceptable price, was in Avignon. So that was one of the reasons why we ended up there for one day! And it was so great!
We accommodated in the hotel and went to the city centre. Luckily, we went on foot, as there was dense traffic all around the old part of the city. We walked first along the river Rhone and enjoyed the view of this famous Bridge from the XII century. It is Pont d'Avignon, and also there is a song called "Sur le Pont d'Avignon", with a dance that was performed under the bridge, dating back to the fifteenth century.
One of the biggest and most important buildings you can see in the city centre of Avignon is The Palace of the Popes. You can not miss it, it is huge. So many people were around, some of them looking for the shadow on the hot summer day. This Palace of the Popes is one of the most important Gothic medieval buildings in Europe. It was both a fortress and palace, also the papal residence during the 14th century. As I love to observe the cathedrals and Gothic buildings in France, this was a joy for me to see. A nice square where we spent some time, resting from the walk.
There was a street musician, he played nicely.
Later, we walked around the walls of Avignon. The wall actually served as defence, in the 14th century. It is in very good shape. This is due to the constant repairs that have taken place during all these centuries. In some spots, it was damaged, but in general, it is in good condition.
What I also liked are the typical narrow streets, offering shadow and refreshment for the tourists. Yes, there were a lot of them, me and my boys included. In one of the following photos, my son is captured. He usually doesn't like to be in the photos, I understand, me neither. But, it happened that he walked and looked at something exactly where I was taking one photo. So, who wants to play and guess at which photo is he and who is he? I will number the photos, and if you want to play write in the comment section the number of the photo where you think my son can be found. I will find the way to support the one who will guess the first :)
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