Avignon

Another afternoon of sailing past some amazing sights, before arriving in Avignon.

We were so excited about our return visit to Avignon, as we loved our stay here six years ago.  This time was it was just as good, and we were so grateful that we had two nights docked in Avignon, which enabled some free time - something there’s never enough of onboard!

Jules has been suffering from bad asthma so I enjoyed the city tour ...

  

 

and visit to the Pope’s palace without her,

Thankfully I also managed some time shopping in town. It has been so hot here for this time of the year, so I was in desperate need of some cooler clothes!

On our final evening in Avignon we were treated to a special dinner in the Pope’s palace - apparently this is an exclusive Scenic opportunity, and we certainly made the most of it.

The temperature demanded different outfits to those we had planned, so it was lucky I spent part of the morning at a market in the beautiful town of L’Isle-sur-la-Sorgue where I found some gorgeous Italian silk dresses and woollen wraps, and after some negotiation managed to get some jewellery thrown in for a very reasonable price!

The meal in the palace was served in the Tinel room, which was originally the banquet room and we were treated to an evening’s entertainment from a string quartet coupled with a special operatic performance of Carmen from one of the local guides. That was a real surprise.

 

Dinner was delicious, even the vegetarian meal...

 

and we were seated with some lovely Australians we have spent some time with on board.

We even spent some time with our Canadian friends who were positioned at the far end of the banquet room.

The resident cat - Clementine (named after Pope Clement) also managed to find her way into the room for the meal - not really a surprise here in France.