Have really enjoyed our time in this area – spent more time looking round the Ancient City of Avignon, including a ride on the Petit Train-Train which goes on a forty minute tour of the main areas complete with English commentary all for 7€ each. We were left with an impression of a busy and lively city but very much a working city. Tourists were certainly well catered for with the old historic areas and designer shops but the streets and pavement cafes seemed to be mainly full of locals and the atmosphere was relaxed and friendly.

The main building, dominating the Avignon skyline, is the Palais des Papes, Palace of the Popes - the biggest Gothic Palace in Europe - dating from the 14^th century. It was built by nine successive Popes and was the seat of the Christian world at that time. It is recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and was a powerful fortress and a magnificent Palace. Today, part of it houses an International Conference Centre and the Department of Archives. Twenty-five rooms are open to the public. Anne was a bit disappointed as they were just that - stone rooms with no furnishings, and although we had audio guides in English, all the detailed information boards were only in French,. It is a huge building with a complicated history and if you are interested in finding out more you could look at www.palais-des-papes.com 

We decided to visit the Palais and the Pont Saint Benezet (pont d’Avignon, bridge, as in the song) for 26€ package for both of us. The bridge was first built during the 12^th century and has often been damaged by raging flood waters and was finally abandoned in the 17^th century so today it comes to a dead end three-quarters of the way across the River Rhone. Only four arches remain out of the original twenty-four as the bridge used to span both branches of the Rhone and Barthelasse Island in between, where our caravan site is – in fact George reckons it went straight over the line of tennis courts in the middle of the site.

On Thursday we took ourselves on a wine tour – all the local villages and towns round here grow grapes, produce wine or sell it. We started at Tavel, famous for Rose where we followed one of the dozens of signs to a Rose Cave and ended up in a farmer’s kitchen tasting wonderful Rose with a jolly grape grower who spoke no English. Lots of hand signals and Franglais ensued and of course we bought some bottles.  We had brought some empty 8 litre containers with us and were really looking for somewhere to fill them up at a reasonable rate so next stop was a big commercial outlet selling wine from big tanks with nozzles like petrol pumps – marvellous – bought more great tasting Rose and Cotes du Rhone, average price just over 1€ per litre. Terrific!

We then went on to Orange to have a look at the famous Roman remains, particularly the 10,000 seater Amphitheatre of which the original front wall is mostly intact. Spectacular opera concerts and events are still regularly held here.

Then it was on to the beautiful little Medieval village of Chateauneuf du Pape on the hunt for some of the good stuff at a bargain price!  On the way we stopped at the side of the road in the sun to have the coffee and baguettes we’d brought with us, vineyards as far as the eye could see in all directions. The Chateauneuf du Pape vineyards are very distinctive because the ground around the vines is covered with pebbles. The pebbles soak up the heat from the sun during the day and release it overnight.

George got out looking at the grapes which were right by the road. Next thing we knew a police car had pulled up behind us - the two policemen had obviously seen George chewing and thought he was eating the grapes. They asked if we knew that all these grapes belonged to Chateauneuf du Pape and we explained in our best French that the only things we were eating were our baguettes. Communication was difficult but eventually they seemed happy enough and tried to chat about where we were staying etc. No problem. Let this be a warning to you – don’t eat any grapes at the side of the road, the Wine Police are watching!

The village itself nestles beneath what is left of the enormous Chateau Tower up on the hill (visible from the high gardens of the Popes Palace in Avignon 20 kms away). Every other shop seemed to be a wine cave, but quality rather than quantity is the order of the day here - with prices to match.

The weather has been hot and muggy but changed dramatically overnight on Thursday with sheeting rain and a spectacular thunderstorm. Cosy in the caravan but we felt a bit sorry for some of the tenters nearby. George was planning to wash the caravan but no need now.

Having explored Avignon which is one side of the Rhone, we thought we better have a look around Villeneuve lez Avignon which is across the other side. This is where the famous bridge used to end and in particular it ended at a tall tower which at one time controlled access to the bridge. We braved climbing the spiral staircase to the top of the Tour Philippe le Bel and enjoyed the incredible views back across the Rhone, divided by the island, to Avignon, the Popes Palace and the remains of the other end of the bridge.

The rest of the town was dominated by a hill top fortress, Le Fort Saint Andre, and the Chartreuse Pontificale du Val de Benediction, a huge Carthusian Monastery. Saturday was market day, Anne can home in on markets from 10 kms away, and this market seemed to be entirely old furniture, bric a brac and silverware. The weather was sunny, the town was crowded so it seemed rude not to sit for a while and watch the world go by over a café crème.

This has been an excellent stopover site on our way to the Riviera made all the more enjoyable by meeting up with Margaret and John. The showers could be hotter and the wi-fi cheaper but the site is in a brilliant position and the free ferry shuttle into Avignon is a real bonus.