Hilary and Stan in Europe 2011 - Day 14 - Djon

Today was our chance to explore Djon while the weather is still good (the forecast for the next few days is looking otherwise!).  The tourist information office made this easy, providing a walking tour brochure that let us follow a path that led us on a walking tour to some of the more noteworthy sites in the city.

Our first stop was at the Jardin Darcy, the city's first public garden, created in 1880.

Nearby is our own hotel, the Sofitel, which was on the tour as it was built in 1882, and apparently has a "golden" registry with signaures that include Grace kelly, Maurice Chevalier, Napoleon III, the composer Saint-Saens and the sculptor Rodin. That was kind of neat to know, however, my main concern was whether that shaky elevator would continue to work!

The triumphal arch that marks the beginning of the Rue de la Liberte, and the most important shopping area of the city, was designed in the 1700's, and is named Porte Guillaume, after an 11th century reformer.

Along the tour, we passed through Les Halles, a huge covered market, built on the site of an old convent, that is open four days a week.

The variety and freshness of the food was wonderful!

Along the way, we passed by some beautiful and remarkably preserved hotels and homes built in the 14th - 16th centuries for various officials of Djon.

The route here included the Notre-Dame, a cathedral built in the 13th century, with three rows of gargoyles overlooking the entrance.  Apparently, at one time, there were many more, unil, centuries ago, one fell off and killed a pedrestrian. The ones that are seen today were constructed in 1880-1882.

At the top of the cathedral is a 'family', overlooking a clock that chimes every hour.  Apparently, in 1383, only the 'father' was there, created by the duke of Djon and given to the townspeople in recognigion of thier help in the Flanders war.  However, the 'bachelor' status of the solitary male figure on the clock became a running joke in the 17th century, so in 1651, a companion was added to the clock, "Jacqueline".  In 1714, people made fun of their infertility, so a little "Jacquelinet" was made for them, who was joined in 1884 by a little "Jacquelinette", to mark the every quarter of the hour with him.

Hilary touchig the 'Owl', a good luck symbol on the cathedral

That afternoon, Hilary disappeared to do some serious "SHOPPING". This requires such a concentrated effort, husbands are not invited.  I stayed at the hotel to do some correspondance writing (hence, this journal!!!).  By the time Hilary returned, the weather started to change. The forecast for the evening was thunderstorms, with rain in the afternoon continuing through tomorrow.  It's not looking very good for our planned bike ride up the Canal, but we can always hope for the best.

Thankfully, the weather held long enough to enjoy Dinner in an outdoor cafe. Try as we might, it was hard to get used to constant smoking outdoors, though.  Hilary and I escaped to look for another place for dessert.  By that time, it was really looking like rain, so we went inside for crepes at a lovely little restaurant near the main plaza.  We were glad we were inside - the waiter and guests were dashing outside with umbrellas. It was there we made an amazing discovery.  France has no smoking indoors. Why didn't we think of this two weeks ago ago???  Oh well, we're used to 'the French' style now....

Hilary and Stan in Europe 2011 - Day 13 - Avignon to Djon

On the patio by our hotel in Bourdon

We're now at Djon, after a train trip from Avignon.  Before we left,  Jan, the co-owner and manager of the hotel we stayed at in Bourdon, literally 'went the extra mile' to help us get our luggage to the bus stop, about a kilometer down the road over rough cobblestones.  Instead of simply putting the luggage in his car and driving to the bus top, he found a hand trolley and carted it all the way there by hand (with a little help from me).  Along the way, he chatted about the hotel, which he and his wife had purchased four years ago after retiring as a lawyer in Belgium, then spent two years extensively renovating it. Two years ago, they opened for business, a lovely 'boutique' hotel with nine rooms, pool, and a gourmet restaurant.  Quite a retirement project.

The train station at Avignon

About a half hour later, we were back in Avignon, where we had a few minutes to have a 'petite dejunier' of croissants with berry jam and cafe au lait in a sidewalk restaurant before boarding our train for Djon.  Hilary had yet another opportunity to thoroughly beat me once again in Scrabble. I like to think I'm getting  better at the game... but so is she!

 

We checked into the Sofitel, Djon, a beautiful, hotel that reminded me of a small version of the Empress in Victoria.  Built in the 1800's, it is built in a grand style, reminiscent of the age, complete with a polished brass and mahogany elevator, which lurched and lunged as if it had a life of it's own.  It helped to remind oneself that if it has been moving guests up and down it's five floors for the past two hundred years, it had to be safe.

That evening we set out to explore the town.

Stopping by the tourist bureau, we learned that there was free jazz music in the plaza..













We ended up at a table right next to the musicians, who were terrific! We stayed until the last performance, after the warm summer sun had set, and lights on the waterfall cast a magic glow across the plaza.

Hilary and Stan in Europe 2011 - Day 12 - Avignon

Avignon - Day 2!   We had lots of time today to explore the town.  One of our first stops was to view the Palace de Papes, constructed in the 1300's after Pope Clement V moved his papal dwelling to Avignon to avoid violent chaos that erupted after his election in 1305. 

It was used by successive popes until 1377, when the papacy moved back to Rome.  The palace and cathedral are some of the most magnificent buildings in the Roman Catholic church ouside of Italy.

 Afterward, we visited Les Halles, a huge indoor market where you could buy wonderful picnic foods.  The women at the market, though, were "all business". 

They were there for a reason - to get groceries. You didn't dare stand in the way of these French mammas!  Afterward, we returned with our picnic lunch to the plaza at the Palace de Pape, listened to some amazing jazz musicians.

It was getting hot... time to find a nice shady place to spend the afternoon.  So, we took a free ferry across the Rhone, chilled in a park there, away from the summer heat. 

There we could see the Pont D'Avognon - a very strange bridge that was built between 1171 and 1185, and originally spanned the Rhône River between Avignon and Villeneuve-lès-Avignon on the left bank.  However, a catastrophic flood swept away much of the structure in 1668, and was subsequently abandoned.  Since then, its surviving arches have successively collapsed or been demolished, and only four of the initial 22 arches remain intact today..  What you see now, then, is a bridge that essentially goes nowhere.  It's still beautiful, though, and a landmark of this ancient city.

That night, we went to see the Soweto Spiritual Singers, a high-energy, very talented group of musicians. 

Reluctantly, we had to return to our hotel by 10:00 PM, early enough to see Jan, the owner to ask if he could help us get our luggage to the bus the next day..  We're on our way to Djon tomorrow.

Hilary and Stan in Europe 2011 - Day 11 - Avignon

We enjoyed our first day of exploring Avignon... a wonderful medieval town.

This afternoon we attended an "OFF" production of Mozart's Cossi Fan Tutti in the afternoon - - a FULL OPERA, sung in French, and performed by six performers, and a pianist, who was, essentially, the orchestra!

Occasionally, a violin, cello or flute stepped in to play some parts.  Everyone, it seemed, did more than one role, with very minimal sets that were moved around by the actors themselves. Incredibly, they pulled it off.  I was amazed by their virtuosity... and chutzpah!

Our hotel in Burdon, on the right

After the performance, we left Avignon after checking out of the Grande Hotel (which, weirdly for a "four star" hotel, had awful service), and checked into a delightful hotel in Bourdon, about 10 km outside of Avignon.

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.

Hilary and Stan in Europe 2011 - Day 9 - Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux to Orange

 ... or, Day Five of Hilary and Stan's "Tour de France!!"

Hilary, mailing postcards 

 I'd say, without reservation, that today was probably one of the most boring rides of our
cycling tour to date.  The reason is not that it's beautiful farm country... but that there is so much of it.  Endless fields of vineywards greeted us as we cycled through what was outside of a small hill we climbed in the morning, essentially a broad valley, not unlike the Fraser Valley in British Columbia.

Ancient crusader castle, above  Rappel

Vinyards...

However, a peceful country ride it was NOT.  The reason?

More vineyards....

Everywhere there were trees or vinyards, you could here a constant, rhythmic 'screeee... screeee.... screeeeeeeee" - the rasping, rhythmic  sounds of countless cicadas, singing relentlessly.  










You have to hear it to really appreciate what they do. Riding on a bike, you can't simply roll up the window and ignore these beasts. You'd need to have and iPod and headphones blasting hard rock and roll into your ears to block out the sound!

and more.....

Thankfully, we had only 50 km to ride today.  We were in Orange by noon.  And there is where we really began to have fun!

Hilary checking out tea towel

Orange, quite simply is an amazing town. The shops, restaurants and a huge morning market that fills over ten city blocks was interesting enough. 

But what makes Orange really special is an ancient Roman Theatre that is still being used today to host live theatre productions.  

oo

When we arrived, organizers were busy putting together finishing touches to host a dress rehearsal of Verdi's Aida that very night.  Although we didn't nake it to the performance, Hilary and I went for a stroll in the evening after dinner.  From beyond the great wall, we could here the orchestra and solists performing in the distance, against bold, dramatic lighting of the ancient Theatre.  We could just imagine what a sight it would be.


Tomorrow is the last official day of our cycling tour.  Our destination is Avignon, where we will be staying for three nights. We're looking forward to visiting this beautiful city.