I am happy to report that I got a full night's sleep last night. (Even sharing one long pillow that is affixed to the top of the bed, as we were.) We slept in and then went downstairs to check out the continental breakfast situation. It turned out to be quite good. Bryan had two croissants which he said were just like eating a stick of butter they were so good (he claims that French croissants are just better than elsewhere, which I think stands to reason), two glasses of orange juice (I gave him mine) and a little bit of hot cocoa. I ate a lot of fresh bread with strawberry jam on it. I tried to order decaf tea, but ended up with a decaf americano coffee instead. I put two cubes of sugar into about a fourth a cup, and enjoyed it much more than expected.

Next we went walking around town . I hesitate to call it a tour, even though we were reading info from our book, because it was so low key. But the town is beautiful. We entered the church while they were doing mass. I still love the way the incense rises from the swinging censor. And mass in French just sounds nicer than in German. But we didn't stay. When we saw service was in session, we quietly slipped out.

Near the end of our walk we were in a "jardin" (it was a little park) with a duck pond and some fabulous views across the river. We saw the island and the restaurant that we would eat dinner at. But more on that later.

We swung back by our hotel to check and see if we had heard back from Elissa about when and where to meet up. Elissa was part of Bryan's teaching cohort at WSU. She had FaceBooked us a time and place, so we were good to go. :) In the meantime we went grocery shopping and picked up some snacks. We had run out of Pringles (tragic), drinks and cookies . We replaced them tout suite and went back to Place De L'Horloge to meet Elissa.

She has been traveling here in Europe for a while too, so we had lots of stories to swap. She's been up in Scotland and England and now is passing through France on her way to Spain. She suggested a restaurant there in the square she had eaten at previously, and we enjoyed it. She and I had the mixed salad, baked cod and ratatouille. Bryan had pizza. We all split a bottle of water and a carafe of house wine. We talked and talked about the places we'd been and the people we'd met. It was great fun to cross paths. She lamented that she had brought too many clothes, and when she tried to send some home, the post office wasn't open (because it is Sunday). Bryan offered that we would take her things tomorrow since she was leaving this afternoon. So we walked back with Elissa to the flat that she was staying in to get the small bag of unwanted items. On the way she showed us an indoor market (think Pike Street Market) and we got gelato . Our only regret is that we forgot to take a picture the whole time we were hanging out. :(

We came back to the hotel to drop off her things, and then decided the AC felt pretty nice and proceeded to take a good long nap. (I figure I'm still trying to catch up from the other night.)

Then we walked through the town and tried to do some geocaching. We ended up at the bottom of the cliff, and we're pretty sure it was at the top. But at this point, we were starting to get hungry, so we abandoned our geocaching and got in line for the free ferry across the river. Then we took a right and walked a couple minutes to a restaurant right on the Rhone River called Le Bercail.

We looked at the menu out front. Many of the plates were pretty expensive, and I couldn't read anything very well since it was all in French. After a few minutes of deliberation, we went and sat down on a bench to talk. I told Bryan I wasn't confident that I could order something that wasn't raw, disgusting or covered in cream sauce . He asked what I wanted. I sheepishly told him "A burger." We finally decided to give the place a try because the view was so nice. It was just as well we took our time hemming and hawing, because when they seated us, I'm pretty sure the place wasn't open. No one came and gave us a menu or anything for some time.

When they did bring us menus, we set about deciphering them. Bryan found a picture of beef and a little grill they bring to the table and we ordered that for two. It was awesome! I wanted beef and french fries, and I got beef and french fries. :) I was afraid they would undercook my meat, and Bryan grilled it up for us just the way we like it. They brought us five unrecognizable condiments, and we flagged down the one waiter who spoke English to help us out. See the pictures if you are curious. :)

After a fun dinner with a fantastic view we decided to walk back to the bridge rather than ride the boat back across . It was wonderful. With stomachs full of meat, potatoes and bread, we walked along the river taking pictures of Avignon lit up by the setting sun. This city has been just my speed. Beautiful architecture, a pretty river and a couple parks with a view. Little cafés in the squares... life is good!

On more than one occasion Merilee had asked me, "Why exactly are we going to Avignon? What's even there?" I would answer, "I dunno, it's nice, you'll like it." I know I had liked it on my first pass through the town, but couldn't really tell you why. Well, fortunately for me, she liked it quite a bit. The town just had a nice relaxed feel to it and it was a good change from the bustle of Italy. Mostly, Avignon is just beautiful. The walls, buildings, and the setting on the river are just right. I was happy we found a reason to go across the river and catch the view of the town as the sun set. It was well worth the walk involved.