Antiques Market, Villeneuve-lês- Avignon, Vaucluse, France

OK, so we didn’t visit either of those places but as every great tabloid editor will tell you, when “the mercury rises” illiteration and cliché  are the order of the day.

Over the last three days temperatures have soared, hitting 35 to 36 degrees by mid-afternoon. As such, our priorities and routine have shifted. Now, it’s important to be on a campsite with a swimming pool, and get to it no later than 3pm. So we start early, do sightseeing until lunchtime, and then return to the campsite for the afternoon.

Owls (for Claire), Antiques Market, Villeneuve-lês- Avignon, France

We visited Avignon on Saturday and Orange on Sunday (sorry, couldn’t find words to illiterate with either of them – Sorgues and Bollène were the nearest towns that worked!).

We spent the first part of Saturday morning at the antiques market in Villeneuve-lès-Avignon. This is a small town on the opposite side of the Rhône from Avignon. The market was very large and had a lot of wacky items, some of them interestingly presented!

Antiques Market, Villeneuve-lês- Avignon, Vaucluse, France

We then took the bikes and cycled across the Rhône to Avignon itself.

The Rhône, Avignon, Vaucluse, France

It’s a very bike friendly city, particularly in the central part where much of it has pedestrianised zones that permit cyclists. We visited Palais des Papes which was very impressive although a little confusing to follow as it’s spread across muliple levels. In retrospect it would have probably been a good idea to pay the extra few euros to purchase the audio guide.

Palais Des Papes, Avignon, Vaucluse, France

Palais des Papes, Avignon, Vaucluse, France

The Palais is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site and was constructed in 1309 when Pope Clement V left Rome and settled in Avignon. The scale of the buildings is awe inspiring. It’s the biggest Gothic medieval combined structure in the world, and there’s alot of information to take in. We had limited time but you probably need a good day to really appreciate it.

Fresque des Prophêtes (1353), Grand Audience Hall, Palais Des Papes, Avignon, France

Most impressive for me were the frescoes that decorated the papal bedroom. These date from 1337-1338 and were in remarkably good condition. No photography was allowed in this area but here’s a link to some images. We’d bought a combined pass for the Palais de Papes and Pont St-Bénézot (or Pont D’Avignon) so then cycled down to the bridge.

Pont St-Bénézot, Avignon, Vaucluse, France

It was completed in 1185 and originally linked Avignon and Villeneuve-lès-Avignon and was part of an important trade route. It’s been re-built many times and today only four arches remain.

On Pont St-Bénézot, Avignon, Vaucluse, France

There’s quite alot of interesting material about the construction techniques used on the paid visit. However, if you simply want to see the bridge you can save yourself a few euros and do so from the adjacent bridge or from the island in the middle of the Rhône.

Pont St-Bénézot, Avignon, Vaucluse, France

There’s alot to do and see in Avignon and we know that we could have stayed alot longer and didn’t do it justice. However, we were a bit beaten by the heat and the desire to move on as we only have just over two weeks left with the campervan and we’d like to get over to the west coast and possibly as far north as Bordeaux.

On Sunday we visted the Roman Theatre at Orange. This is an amazing site and this time we took the audio tour. It’s believed to have been constructed between 27BC and AD14 under Augustus Ceasar’s rule.

Roman Theatre, Orange, Vaucluse, France

Exterior of Roman Theatre, Orange, Vaucluse, France

Incredibly, much of the theatre wall and arena are still intact and one can only marvel at it’s scale having been built over 2000 years ago.

Across the road from the theatre there’s the Orange museum which is full of interesting artefacts dating from Roman times up to Orange’s more recent history. We spent an hour or so in the museum before returning to the campsite and pool!

After dinner we headed off for a walk to find Orange’s “Arc De Triomphe”. This was constructed around 49 BC as a commemoration of Roman victories in the wars with the Gauls.

Arc De Triomphe, Orange, Vaucluse, France

The weather forecast for the next few days is for this weather to continue and, if anything, get hotter. We hope to visit some more Provencal villages on Monday and then move onto Pont du Gard and Nimes.

Je remarque que les gens sont un peu plus difficile de comprendre ici. Peut-être c’est parce que nous restons près de Marseille et je sais que cet accent est difficile. Quelquefois je pense que j’entend un accent un peu comme espagnol aussi mais je ne suis pas sûre.

Mon ami Mike, à Auckland, m’a appris l’expression <la douloureuse>. C’est un autre façon de demander l’addition dans un restaurant- on dit < la douloureuse s.v.p.>. Hier soir je l’ai utilisé et le serveur était très ammusé. Merci Mike pour les conseils.