We were up at 7am and bid good-bye to lovely Aix-en-Provence. To get to our next destination, Avignon, we decided to BlaBlaCar it, given that French trains are as ridiculously overpriced as British trains. (for those who don't know, BlaBlaCar is the AirBnB of carsharing) We were picked up by an adorable French girl who works in Avignon selling Pink Lady apples. Imagine her surprise to realize that her car was filled with not just Pink Lady fans, but Seattlelites whose state's main export, aside from software and airplanes, is apples. We've BlaBlaCar'ed a lot around Europe; but I must say that this ride was by far my favorite. There's a special magic in making connections with other people when you travel, who you will never see again, but who stay with you nonetheless. She was one of those people.
Our BlaBlaCar driver dropped us on the edge of Avignon, and we took a local bus the last few miles into Old Town to our hotel.
Our first glimpse of Avignon from the bus ride was nothing less than jaw-dropping. It's an entirely intact walled city from the medieval era, with cream stone turrets and ramparts reflecting the sunlight...all on the banks of the Rhone River. It's gorgeous, and I was instantly in love.
We found our little guesthouse, and to my absolute glee, it was the quintessential Provencal hotel. Our room had distressed wooden walls, paintings of lavender fields, flowerboxes on the exterior walls...I've wanted to visit Provence my entire life, and seeing this imagined place in reality was amazing to me. Who knew such perfect stereotypes still existed in the world?
After we checked in, we set off to spend the morning exploring Avignon. Avignon was the seat of papal power for 75 years, back in the 14th century, when one of the Popes decided that Rome wasn't cool enough anymore. And while 75 years may not seem long, in that short time an incredible amount of architecture was built. The Palais du Papes (Pope's Palace) is the largest Gothic palace on earth. How huge is this? We've been lucky enough to see many of the great world's castles,
but upon seeing the Palais du Papes, I literally stood in the middle of the street and said "Holy shit" out loud. It's immense, it's imposing, and it's impressive. And France has a lovely way of giving these formerly off-limits places back to the people; the surrounding gardens are gorgeous, boasting amazing views, and completely free to wander. So we did. I even bought a Nutella crepe from a vendor in the park and savored the surroundings (and the resulting sugar high).
Avignon is in the Cote du Rhone region, which is famous for its delicious wines. The center of all winemaking, however, is the even more famous town of Chateauneuf-du-Pape. And since a nice boy named Benjamin from the Avignon tourist office told us that Chateauneuf-du-Pape is just a ten-minute train ride away, we decided to get on the 1pm train. And the tourist office was right, sort of; the ten-minute train ride dropped us at Le Gare (Station) de Chateauneuf-du-Pape et Sorgues. And that was the technicality...the station was in Sorgues, a good twenty-minute drive from the wine tasting town of Chateauneuf-du-Pape. So once again a sweet-faced young tourist office employee screwed us over (though in his defense, Benjamin was kind of hot).
But luckily, three other women- two Americans and a Brit, one who spoke fluent French- were similiarly stranded (thanks Benjamin), but the French speaker managed to chat up a bus driver into taking us for free to the connecting stop several miles away; this bus driver then sat with us to ensure we got on the right connecting bus. I love French bus drivers. They're some of the most helpful, kind people we meet in France.
So after a ten minute train ride which morphed into 45 minutes of connecting buses, we arrived in Chateauneuf-du-Pape, and quite thirsty. We made the trip up the hill to see the ruins of Chateauneuf-du-Pape; until today, I had thought that "Chateauneuf-du-Pape" referred to the chateau's winery. Like Chateau Ste Michelle back home, I had assumed it was a brand label. But the chateau is a former papal summer home, on a stunning hilltop overlooking the winelands. It's in ruins now, thanks to the Nazis who destroyed much of the town as the Americans liberated it in the 1940s, but it's still gorgeous. And it was a good place to have a glass of wine before beginning our wine tasting afternoon.
We went to three different caves; a small, family run winery, a speciality wine store, and finally a large winery's tasting room. We had an amazing afternoon tasting both whites and reds, and came home with three delicious bottles (tastings are free, but you're expected to buy). At the final winery, the sommelier uncorked our purchase for us so we could enjoy the white wine in the spectacularly warm afternoon.
At 5pm, not wanting to do the two-bus-and-a-train journey again, we wisely Googled how to get back to Avignon and discovered a direct bus, for just two euros. So we were back in Avignon by 6pm, and finished off our wine in the plaza of the Palais du Papes. As the sun sinks, the glow off the cream stone is simply stunning.
(also note: we went back to Benjamin in the tourist office to let him know that NO, the train DOESN'T go to Chateauneuf-du-Pape.)
For dinner we found a tiny bistro on the edge of the Old Town, L'Ardoise, where I had possibly the best menu item I've ever tasted in France: Escargot in a marsala sauce. It was unbelieveable. I had a duck breast and creme brulee as well, but truly neither could compete with that perfect dish. Snails! In marsala wine! Who knew.
So that was our very long, very exciting, extremely alcoholic day in Provence. Tomorrow we are journeying to Orange to see Roman ruins.
Where Popes Do Roam
Friday, April 14, 2017
Avignon, Provence, France
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2025-02-11