France 2026—April 25-28

April 25-26—SeaTac to Charles de Gualle to Dinner with Gavin and Elaine

Saturday was a long but good travel day. After all the hype in the papers about long security lines we changed our arrival time to SeaTac just in case. So we walk off the ferry, meet our driver in front of the Coleman Ferry Terminal, drive 17 minutes to SeaTac and... right, no lines. Luckily, we had time to meet with a Delta ticketing agent so he could correct a computer glitch with my ticket. Somehow my last name was included twice and so I couldn't get a boarding pass, because the name on my passport didn't match my ticket. Ya, my passport only has my last name once—of course. Eduardo, the Delta agent, was cheerful and corrected the error and we were off to TSA Pre√, except we didn't bother, because there was no one, and I mean NO BODY at the regular TSA line. We walked right up checked in with a TSA agent and he gave us an expedited card to indicate to the other agents that we had TSA Pre√, and viola, we had three hours to burn before our flight.

At Charles de Gualle, we expected long lines, because they instituted a biometric procedure that has slowed down Passport Control. Well, this also was a shocker. The huge room with the rat maze all airports use to make travelers walk up and down and back and forth to an entry point was there and we ran the course and stood behind 3 people going through the biometric thingie. Two French agents were there to assist and within 5 minutes our passports were scanned and we had our pictures taken and that was it. We took a taxi to our hotel and had three hours to freshen up and have a little rest before meeting Gavin and Elaine for dinner at La Marine at 7PM.

I sure hope the rest of our 5 weeks in France go as smoothly as the start of this holiday!

The flight was smooth and uneventful, except for
one distressed baby screaming in first class. Event-
ually, she passed out and so did we. 

Our flight route 30 minutes after departing SeaTac.

Pre-dinner snack.

Ravioli dinner on Delta 80 to Paris.

Me, Marie, & Gavin on one of the many pedestrian
bridges that cross Canal St. Martin. Elaine, Gavin's
wife, took this picture and we'll include one of all
of us after they send it to me.

Does this look like April 26th?

La Marine fronts Canal St. Martin. We had such a good time talking and eating salmon, lemon sole, & boeuf with grilled mushrooms, and profiteroles with chocolate sauce for dessert that we forgot to take pictures.

This is a restaurant Gavin and Elaine like and have come back to several times during their month in Paris, and all I can say is, they chose well. Fantastic and friendly service and really delicious food!

And here we all are!

April 27—Avignon

The trip from Paris to Avignon, with one stop at Lyon Saint Exupery Tgv averaged 299km (185mph) and took three hours. Second Class on the Tgv is comfortable and inexpensive, and seniors get a reduced fair. 

Inside train. Didn't want to intrude on
passenger privacy too much. Pic taken
from seat level down the aisle.

Route, speed, and updated ETA's on ceiling monitors.

It was 77(F)/25(C) when we arrived around 1430, and after checking into Hotel Boquier, we took our usual orientation walk and got the lay of the land. 

Our orientation walk took us down Rue de la
Republique, Avignon's main street running from
the train station to the Rhone River. Now a museum, 
this former church's facade is still impressive.

Avignon Theatre on Main Square.

Now a hotel, this papal residence only
rates three stars. (see red plaque)

The Papal Palace was the seat of Western 
Christianity in the 14th century. It is massive.

Closer look at Papal Palace entrance.

Modern apartments with passage
underneath to the next street.

This is the backside of the Papal Palace.
Note how the wall is built to include the
massive natural stone.

Section of Avignon's original wall that encircles entire town.

We took this shortcut through the
stone wall surrounding the city.

Just a cool side street as we get oriented.

We ended our orientation walk of 3+ miles with a plan for Tuesday and called it a day at 5PM. I've been drafting this entry for about an hour now and Marie is sound asleep (current time 2030). We haven't quite recovered from jet lag even though the walk helped. 

Tomorrow our plan is to begin the day early with coffee and croissants at Les Halles and then take one or two of the walks described in the Avignon "Leisure and Heritage Map" and then take a midday rest to avoid the heat. It's only supposed to be 76(F)/24C, but the sun is pretty intense this far south so we don't want to push it. We'll take another heritage walk later in the afternoon. That's the plan, but we'll see.

April 28—Avignon

Avignon is an old city, dating back to 4th century which is apparent if you walk down the narrow lanes that swirl around Rue de la Republique, Avignon's main street, and the spine of the city that is lined with "modern" buildings from the Second Empire (1852-70). But the medieval construction throughout the city is clear if you step back from Rue de la Republique. 

Avignon is one of the few French cities to have preserved its city walls. Why? Because they serve a modern purpose; the walls with added gates that close, prevent river flood waters from entering the city center. They were built in the 14th century and considered the finest example of medieval fortification. Avignon is also known as 'La Cité des Papes' (The City of the Popes, 1307-1348) where seven consecutive popes (and two schismatic popes) maintained a residence. 

The historic center includes the Palais des Papes, Avignon Cathedral and the Pont d'Avignon, became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1995 because of its architecture and importance during the 14th and 15th centuries.^[12] The medieval monuments and the annual Festival d'Avignon – one of the world's largest festivals for performing arts^[13] – have helped to make the town a major center for tourism. (Wikipedia)

See Wikipedia for: 

• Cultural Heritage at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avignon#Notable_people
• A Timeline at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_Avignon
• Avignon Papacy, a brief history: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avignon_Papacy

Check out Avignon Tourisme for a simulated walk through its streets. This website provides descriptions and pictures of Avignon's most significant sites. And the Avignon's "Leisure and Heritage Map" includes 10 color-coded walks that also have descriptions of historical and cultural sites.

If you don't feel like looking at all the Wikipedia links mentioned above, take a look below at the pictures taken this morning on our 4+ mile stroll "behind the scenes" of Avignon.

We started our morning looking for Les Halles, the covered market, where we enjoyed a fabulous cafe au lait and then spent an hour ogling what the shops have for sale.

It's gotta be close.

Not yet.

Ah, here we have arrived at Les Halles.

We'll take you on a wander through the market stalls.

After Les Halles we walked toward the Cathedral of the Doms, the seat of the Archbishop. It was built in the 12th century and consecrated in 1111. Getting there was most of the fun. Again, check out the narrow lanes and walls of these medieval buildings and churches.

Can you find the bicycle?

Walking behind and...

around the Papal Palace.

Hôtel des Monnaies built in 1619 has a varied history. Check out the link for more information.

This free water taxi crosses the Rhone
so we took it and continued walking.

Pont Avignon was built in the 13th century washed away
several times by the flooding Rhone and was rebuilt more
than once. In 17th century the city could no longer afford
its reconstruction and abandoned it to future tourists.

After we finished the walk, we returned to our hotel to give our feet a rest. Walking on cobblestone streets is a little taxing. Besides we're not in a hurry to race from one site to another. Meandering around an ancient city is more fun. 

Around 3PM it was time for a midday meal and a stroll to the other side of town.

Temple Saint-Martial (1388) was built as a school
and monastery for the Benedictine monks. Today it
hosts the Avignon Tourism Office.

Square Agricol Perdiguier was the cloister
and garden for the Benedictine Abbey at
Temple Saint-Martial. You can see it is
still well-used and appreciated.

Place des Corps Saints is surrounded by really good
restaurants, cafes, and a few bars. Our hotel host told
us we would enjoy a meal here. He was right.

This is a close up of the fountain's base.

And we found a restaurant for our main meal.

Tartine and salad was the plat du jour

and it was yummy.

We loved wending around Avignon's
medieval lanes. You never know where 
you'll come out.

Hey look, a modern street. It's one of 

the few within the walled city.

We ended our day walking 7+ miles, but taking a midday break, made it manageable. Tomorrow (April 29th) we're taking a small-group (8 people max) tour of the wider area of Provence. The All Provence in a Day guided tour takes about 10.5 hours, but at least we can relax as we visit some of the highlights of the Provence region.

The All Provence in a Day excursion was a really full day that was exhausting. Odelia, our tour guide, was wonderful—informative and charming. But here it is the day after the tour and we're still whipped, so today we're taking it easy. After all, we've only been in France five days as of today and jet lag is still lurking. We feel better and slept better last night (probably because we still walked 5+ miles on the 10.5 hour Provence excursion).

Anyway, here are some pictures from our All Provence in a Day tour.

Looking down Rue de Republique—

how our day began.

Our guide provided maps of the villages we visited. Roussillion, our first  

stop, is famous for its natural occurring ochre and red cliffs and how all 

the buildings have taken their landscape seriously. You'll see what I

mean in the next series of pictures.

This is painted on the garage door of
the above residence. 

Planters add colors other than red hues.

If we lived in this village, it would be in this house.

Stop #2—Gordes

Gordes has an interesting history. During WWII, Gordes was the headquarters for the French Resistance and the Germans knew this, but couldn't ever find them, because Gordes has many caves throughout the limestone mountain it was built on in the 11th century.

At the end of the war, out of frustration for never uncovering the French Resistance, Germany bombed this ancient and beautiful village until nothing but rubble remained. And Gordes remained destroyed until the Flemish artist Pol Mara moved there and rebuilt its castle. Other artists eventually joined him until eventually Gordes was rebuilt in its original 11th century style. So, though Gordes looks as it did being obliterated, it's actually a 20th century reconstruction.

Stop #3—Fontaine-de-Vaucluse

These rescue workers were doing emergency training.

Stop #4—Avignon, dropped off four passengers and picked up three more for the second half of the day. What, wait! We could have broken up the tour into two days?!

Stop #5—Saint-Rémy-de-Provence

There are two renown "residents" of Saint Remy. The most famous is Van Gogh who was a patient at the Saint-Paul Asylum in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, and painted some of his most memorable works, including The Starry Night, which features the town. (Wikipedia)

The second famous resident of Saint Remy was Nostradamus, a French astrologer, apothecary, physician, and reputed seer, who is best known for his book Les Prophéties (published in 1555), a collection of 942^[b] poetic quatrains allegedly predicting future events. (Wikipedia)

But we enjoyed our walk through Saint Remy for its narrow streets small squares, and its decorative shops.

This is Odelia, our tour guide and her intern.

The Saint-Martin Saint-Rémy church was built in 1122, then enlarged and embellished in 1331. The building largely collapsed in 1818 and was rebuilt in the neoclassical style in 1821. We stopped here to look at its organ, one of the few decorated (i.e. painted) organs in France. We were more impressed by the dome at the center of the transept.

This guy made nearly150 paintings and drawings
in the year while a patient at Saint-Paul asylum
near Saint-Remy.

 

Stop #6—Les Baux-de-Provence

Hmm, how is the Grimaldi family of Monaco connected to this fortress? Check out this Wikipedia link for a history of this famous tourist site today. See the Late Middle Ages subheading for the Grimaldi reference.

...trebuchet at the top of these cliffs is
the ultimate weapon.

And this sculpture suggests his...

Stop #7—Pont du Gard

Phew, it's our last, and most stunning, stop of the day. Pont du Gard, read all about it! I'm not kidding; the history of this aqueduct is fascinating, but standing under it nearly 2,000 years after the Romans built it in the 2nd century to carry water 31 miles to Nimes, is nothing less than astonishing, mystical, unbelievable, astounding, stupefying, etc.

The best part of this park (that happens to also include an amazing
edifice) is where families use this large park to picnic.

Can you find the people on the rocks.

Are you getting some perspective now?

We watched teens jump from these cliffs into the river. The beach in the background on the right was packed with families picnicking. The scale of this park is on par with its namesake.

Stop #8—Back to Avignon

We happily ended our day at our new favorite restaurant, the one we ate at yesterday, and then dropped into bed at 9:30PM.