Hilary and Stan in Europe 2011 - Day 10 - Orange to Avignon

We were so successful at having an enjoyable day by cycling early in the morning, we decide to do the same for our ride into Avignon.  This time, however, the ride, which would take us through the rich wine making regions where the famous Chateauneuf du Pape wines are made, would be only 40 km - easy!

We set out at a leisurely pace, knowing that this would be last of our organized rides during what has been a wonderful journey through southern France.  Hilary continued to do a terrific job at navigating the detailed instructions... ... turn left, approx. 0.3 km.to roundabout.... take the Le Gres exit, straight on for 2.7 km.... look for a crossroad at Chemin de Maucoil and keep going straight for 2.2 km.... turn left to Circuit Touristique just after crossing the Cateau Mont Redon estate.... you get the idea.   Following thirty to fifty of these types of instructions per day sure kept us on our toes.

Sooner or later, however, that next crucial intersection wouldn't appear when it should have.  Then Hilary would stop, puzzled, and after consultation, we'd retrace our steps to the last place we KNEW was correct and try again. USUALLY, that was all that was needed.  However, there was a time when a brand new roundabout appeared that was not marked on our map. I looked down and, seeing the fresh pavement, realized that it simply wasn't there when the instructions were made.  We figured out what to do, and eventually found the next marker. It got to be like a treasure hunt.  AHA, THERE IT IS!! Hilary would shout.

By the last day, we were pretty expert at it. The countryside rolled along country roads with what seemed like endless vineyards. I will have a whole new appreciation of that next bottle of a fine French wine in British Columbia.

Thanks to Cyclomundo's excellent route, the ride kept us on country roads until we reached a park that looked across the Rhone river to the ancient walled city of Avignon, rising like a storybook kingdom before us.  We marveled at the high walls as we crossed the bridge and through one of several gates into the city.

Inside the walled city of Avignon

Riding along cobbled streets of this medieval town was unlike anything we had experienced to date.  It will be such fun exploring it over the next three days!

We've arrived!

By complete coincidence, we arrived in Avignon just as one of the biggest theatre and dance festivals.  Iin France was getting underway. We didn't know quite what to expect as we cycled into this ancient walled city, built in the thirteenth century.  What we found was a continuous, wild, and often quite hilarious street celebration going on.

Walls of buildings were festooned with layers of posters, often up as high as the second and third stories, advertising plays that were going on.  Everywhere we went, costumed actors, who were often the leads of the plays that they were performing accosted us on the street, handing out leaflets and telling us, usually in Frence, what they play they were performing was all about. Sidewalk cafes became a wonderful source of entertainment as, sitting at a table, a parade of often outragiously funny actors paraded by.  And in courtyards, mime artists, dancers and street musicians collected huge crowds of onlookers.  Thankfully, mime, dance and music are international languages - I had a wonderful time here, despite my hopeless high school French!

The Avignon festival is divided into two major groups or classes of producitons. The sponsored producitons include vetted productions by major theatre companies and (I suspect) ware carefully auditinoed for quality and content. Tickets are purchased often months in advance much like festivals we've seen in Vancouver.

The second group of productions are more experimental... and to my mind, more excit5ing. Laveled "Avignon OFF", all a theatre company has to do is to pay an entrance fee to get into the festival catalogue and book a local venue..  That said, the quality (due to very intense competition!) is very high.  We spoke to a biluigual actor, named August, who we found playing a beautifully crafted Hurdy Gurdy, patterned fro an inst4rument made in the middle ages. He told us that Avignon can make or break a theatre company, as word gets around whether the production is good or not very quickly.  The number of "OFF" production companies is staggaring.  The dense cataloge, numbering hundreds looks like a phone book.


One of the most memorable impromptu performances  we say was a mime artist, performing on the plaza of the Palais des Papes.Single-handedly, he enthralled a huge audience by his playful interactions with young volunteer children who unwittingly became part of the act.  

 Afterward, Hilary went up to congratulate him,

When we first arrived, strolled around, had lunch in an open market.  We booked an "Off" production which was apparently in English, a "hip-hop Opera".  But our luggage didn't arrive until after 6 PM, so we ended up missing it.  Drat!!  However, the free street entertainment more than made up for it. Tomorrow is a new day.