September 29, 2022 We took it easy today, grocery shopping, a play and relaxing in the evening.
The advantage of renting the apartment is we no longer have to eat all our meals at restaurants. The best of the lot ended up being the grated Mature British Cheese. We like extra sharp or even sharper cheese. It falls into the extra sharp category, yum!
Linda brought her favorite coffee from France, but there was a problem. The apartment only has a water kettle. And for coffee there is something she never drinks, instant coffee. A cheap £8 French press solved that problem.
Highlight of the day. Only a block from our apartment, half price tickets, dead center six rows from the stage.
Our traditional theater selfie.
Linda’s traditional theater Gin & Tonic.
As always, no photos of the play, but this is the stage as we were leaving.
Several schools were in attendance. It was heartwarming how the kids sitting with their parents near us were all so into the play.
Which one of the three is she?
In the evening we relaxed while watching one of favorite British shows on YouTube.
September 28, 2022 A travel day when things went right for once. In fact they went so right, it was too right in one case.
We helped the French wine industry during our stay in Avignon.
There was a French railway strike called for today, but it was scheduled to start at 7 p.m. and by then we would be in London.
No jam packed trains today.
At the train station for the Marseille airport. Makes it very handy for commuters to pick up their Amazon packages on the way home. Makes me think about that saying regarding building a better mousetrap.
Easy to know where the bust to the airport terminals stops at the train station.
We had read the bus was free, but not so.
All these things going just right added up to a small problem. But this was the solution.
The counter was where you checked in or checked your baggage for the British Airways flight we were taking. Since we had so many problems with our previous travel days we built in a cushion of time in case we had to take a slower, or a later train. When everything went perfectly we ended up being at the airport 2 1/2 hours before the check in counter opened. This was BA’s only flight of the day from the airport so no chance of checking in earlier. That was why the table in the previous photo was where we hung out for that time and where this photo was taken from.
Neither one us ever got the hang off these multi-purpose faucet/hand dryers in the airport restrooms.
My attempt to take a candid photo of Linda and I on the plane didn’t work out very well as a masked lady photobombed it, lol.
We even arrived at Heathrow on schedule, but a medical emergency about 10 rows behind us had everyone remaining in their seats until the paramedics arrived and gave the all clear to disembark. Clearing customs was breeze as they had the same automatic passport control machines as in the states. It was still along wait for luggage, but we were soon on the Piccadilly line heading toward Holborn station. Even though we traveling just before 5 o’clock, the train was only standing room for a few stops and getting on where the train originated, we had good seats the whole way.
Our apartment, one large combo living, dining and kitchen room. A bedroom and separate bathroom was just what we needed for our two week stay.
The cabinets hid the clothes washer, dishwasher and refrigerator.
A nice big table.
Welcoming gifts.
The bedroom was only slightly smaller the size of rooms we have usually had at the Travelodge across the street.
I have to admit it wasn’t nearly as refreshing as I would have liked.
With all the pubs packed with office workers we opted to walked the couple of blocks to Sainsbury’s and buy both our dinner and fixings for breakfast tomorrow morning. It was interesting how on a day when everything went right we were still both dog tired at the end of the day.
September 26, 2022 Some days are more interesting than others. Today it was not about what we saw, it was more about who we met.
It started out as a typical Monday morning. Putting the washing machine in the apartment to good use and hanging the clothes out to dry. Thing about it and asking she how knows about such things, we determined that we have never had a dryer in place we have rented during our trips overseas.
Since we leaving in few days to fly to London, we thought it a good idea to stop at the train station and purchase our tickets to Marseille during our daily outing. There is no train station at he Marseille airport, but the station is only five minutes from the airport by free shuttle bus. Th first problem was we could remember the name of the little town the station was located in. Linda remembered seeing a map of the different train routes from Avignon, and took a photo of it so we had the name of the town.
We set the ticket machine to English and try as we might, we couldn’t get it to show us what we wanted. We finally decided we would have to join the line to the one person in the station selling tickets at the ticket counter. While standing line I saw a man in an SNCF uniform standing nearby. It turned out he was an information attendant who spoke perfect English and took us over to a nearby ticket machine and showed us how to buy the ticket. The funny thing was we have been buying tickets at these machines throughout out time in France, but this one had us baffled. It was another true unexpected kindness just when we needed it.
A church with flying buttresses beside a very pretty little garden.
As expected, there were gargoyles.
I didn’t have my camera with the telephoto lens, but even a distant photo of a gargoyle is better than no gargoyles to photograph.
Walking along the street we saw this planter with what we call the purple plant. A few feet beyond, Isaid I was going back to photograph it. The shadow to the left is what happened next. As I was walking back to Linda a girl walked up to Linda and asked in very slow English f she could take my wife’s photo.
The girl was the one the left. There was lots of giggling from the other three girls, and in the end it turned out they were just learning English. It was hard to talk with them, but they ended up with a little more practice, even if there were giggles than words exchanged.
Running the wine bottle gauntlet at the Monoprix.
We’ve tried to cut back of the traditional French foods, so this has become my goto stop on the way back to the apartment.
Two slices of Royale for Euro 7.
They taste really great and have more toppings than crust.
It is definitely time to be leaving Avignon. Walking back I pointed to this little alleyway and told my wife it was a shortcut to the apartment. She remarked she was totally lost. it is part of the fun of staying in a new place, discovering all those things the locals know but visitors don’t. Sad to say, our mantra is that as soon as we know the shortcuts in whatever town we might be staying in, whether traveling in the US in our RV, or being overseas, it is time for us to move on to another place.
I keep forgetting to take a photo of the fob we we use open the door or gate at the outside entrance to where we are staying. Once through here there are two other locked doors before we are in our apartment.
Today we joined many of the residents of Avignon and took a stroll around the area near our apartment. The air was so fresh and clean after yesterday’s rains, that we were out longer than we realized exploring the streets when something looked interesting. We let the tourists visit the Pope’s Palace, etc. and the hordes of people that are there. We like Life in the slow lane, even to to point of getting lost at times.
As the saying goes, one should always take time to stop and smell the roses, even if they aren’t roses.
One of those intriguing “no plaque no description” sculptures.
a little visited section of the ramparts.
A spout for the water to run off, but where is the gargoyle?
a different view of one of the many structures of this design that are regularly placed on the ramparts.
Something different ahead.
One of the gates in the ramparts. View from the city side looking out.
View from outside the ramparts city looking through the gate toward the city.
Plaque regarding the gate, when it was built, then rebuilt and the different names for it through the centuries.
Looks like some reinforcement likely added when it was rebuilt in 1865.
Wandering through a residential area we came upon this grand tree lined street.
Parking meters are everywhere in Avignon it seems.
Easy to pay but hard to figure out how to use. My guess is you put in your license plate number. We simply do not live or travel where such things are used.
Not all the buildings in this area were old.
But on the fence surrounding the lot right next to that modern apartment building was this sign.
An on the lot was this building undergoing restoration. If I understood the sign correctly, it was built in the early 1920′ as a hotel, during the war it served as a hospital, then after the war was converted into apartments and is now being fully restored to its former glory still as apartments.
Flags galore on this building.
And now we know why. It is the neighborhood police station.
I would be remiss if I didn’t post at least one food photo. And as usual, it was only after I had taken the first bite of my cookie that I thought to take it. Irrespective of that, ice cream and a cookie is a great way to end the day.
