Avignon

01/06/2010

Only a short trip here this morning and, after settling in to our campsite on the banks of the Rhone, we set off before lunch to see the sights. First stop was the famous (apparently)bridge of Avignon. It cost 13 euros to go on (what remains of) it, so we took a photo instead. After that we visited the papal palace, home of the popes when Avignon was the seat of the papacy. Interesting enough place, free audio guide as well so we could well understand what we were looking at as we toured around. A little bit sparse, though. At the exit there was the usual souvenir shop and as we were passing through, overheard two 60ish Aussie birds. One of them said to the other as they were browsing. 'Oh, more crap.' A succint and fitting commentary.

By the time we finished as the papal palace it was after 3pm and we were starving, so staggered up to the nearby gardens for the usual baguette, camembert and saussicon.

Afterwards, we visited an art gallery called Museum Angladon. Smallish but some pretty impressive works by Picasso, Degas, Van Gogh and Cezanne. We were both particularly taken by a painting by Sisley to the extent that we bought a postcard that featured it. Hey, big spender. Just for something else to do, we popped into a natural history museum. It was free entry but a bit sad and we had to contend with a group of primary kids on a class trip. Theres a particularly nauseating stench that arises from a small, overly warm, humid room filled with stuffed animals and 40 grade 2 children. We didn't stay long.