Around The Apartment

Okay, I will be the first to say that we have taken it very, very easy over the last couple of days. We get up any time we feel like it, but generally after 8am and hopefully before 9am!

I hear that people have a strict morning regime that includes running, fruit, and water.....well, my mornings are not that dissimilar...I like to start by sitting, eating chocolate croissants, and having an expresso...then I am ready to face the day.

We have actually done a bit of exploring around Avignon, but I would have to say that we have not wandered more than half a kilometre from our apartment...no, it is not because we have become totally lazy slobs...there is just so much to see and do on our door step.

As usual we are staying in the old part of the town. Old Avignon is a walled city and is full of great shops, restaurants, bars, cafes, and fantastic old streets and buildings.

Beautiful Lanes and Buildings

Shopping Lane Ways

Beautiful Covered Lane Ways

Perhaps one of the biggest tourist attractions here is the Papal Palace......yes, I did say Papal Palace....a series of Popes lived here in the 1300's when it was too dangerous for them to be in Rome.

Views Of The Papal Palace

Within a few minutes we are able to walk to the Rhone River that flows to the north and west of the old town, just outside of the city walls. You get some fantastic views of the old walled town from here. The river is the same one that flows through Lyon, 200 kilometres north of us here.

Avignon Viewed From The Rhone

The Famous Pont d'Avignon

So what we do each day is walk off in different directions having a look at what Avignon has to offer, we seem to have quite a few very old and very spectacular churches , thank goodness we have double glazing....but it does sound great when all the church bells are ringing.

Beautiful Old Churches Everywhere

The other day on one of our walks outside of the walls, we came back through one of the big gates, Porte De L'Oulle, and as we entered we came across the beautiful Place Crillon, a tree lined square full of restaurants and cafes....we will have to come back here one night for a meal, it will look spectacular all lit up I am sure.

Views Around Place Crillon

We also have the Place De L'Horloge just around the corner, it is full of restaurants and there is a big wine festival here in a few weeks....should be good. There is also a great looking bell that strikes every hour with a couple of characters that strike the bell.

The Bell Tower In Place De L'Horloge

Looking Down One Side Of Place De L'Horloge

Now in one month we will be in Spain, the home of tapas, but we could not wait and decided to have tapas for lunch at a small restaurant only metres from our front door.

Tapas In Avignon

Must admit, we both loved the atmosphere of this place, and the food was cheap and very tasty...hope Spain can match up with these Tapas!!!

Great Tapas Bar

Really Tasty Tapas

So, that gives you an idea of what we having been doing for the last few days while taking it very easy in Avignon.

 

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Les Halles Avignon

Like Lyon, Avignon also has a permanent indoor market that is also called Les Halles. As it it is only a five minute walk away we had to visit it.

Entry To Les Halles

Walking through Les Halles we found a good variety of fresh foods, but we both agree...you cannot beat a good outdoor market

Fresh Fish From Marseilles

Herbs and Spices

A Great Looking Deli

We were surprised to find that they also have a little cooking school, and today looked like they had a childrens cooking party, with chef hats!! What a great idea for a kids party!

You Cook It, You Eat It!

My favourite part of the whole market is the bar...this is where the wives leave their husbands while they go shopping....gees, like is tough when you have to sit at a bar at 10 o'clock in the morning, sipping local wine, and talking sport to your fellow desserted husbands..........Why does Lesley always drag me around markets? I would be quite happy here!!!!!!!!

We even stopped at the local oyster bar and had a dozen oysters and local wine for lunch.

Fresh Oysters For Lunch!

After buying as few items we made our way back to the apartment for a light meal and some local wine....hey, we don't want to over exert ourselves too much!!!

 

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Goodbye Lyon, Hello Avignon

I have to admit that we would be lost without access to the Internet on this trip, we have used in extensively to arrange all forms of travel and our accommodation, and getting to Avignon was no different.

We had booked a great little apartment in the middle of Avignon a few months ago through the Airbnb website. We booked our fast rail "TGV" tickets from Lyon to Avignon a few weeks ago. We had checked and found out that we could catch a bus from the Avignon TGV station to the town centre for just 1.30 euros each. We booked our cab to take us from our Lyon apartment to the train station. The best thing about the Internet for doing all of this is the fact that you do not have be fluent in French to arrange all of this...which is just as well because we stumble through French, and that is with our handy language books.

So all packed we locked the door to our Lyon apartment for the last time and headed down to the street to meet our cab that was due at 10am, it came around the corner 5 minutes early.....one thing less to worry about.

The cab driver got us to the station in record time, so we could sit and relax and wait for our train. When the train pulled in we were waiting in the correct spot to quickly enter our carriage and find our seats. One hour later we were getting off the train in Avignon, and ten minutes later we were on the bus heading to the town centre......within 30 minutes we were being greeted by our lovely host, Anne-Sophie at the second floor apartment we will be staying in for the next month.

Our Apartment

Lesley's Favourite Thing....Stairs

Heaps Of Restaurants Just Around The Corner

The following photos are just from the 800 metre walk from the bus station to our apartment:

Temple Saint Martial

Ruins Next To Saint Martial

Quiet Streets

After quickly putting a few clothes away we walk around the corner to get a bite to eat, it soon became apparent the Avignon is going to be a great place to base ourselves for exploring this region.

Hot Chestnut Sellers

Cafes In Rue De La Republique

Now That Is What I Call A Beer!!

So now we will sit back and relax for the next week and just casually explore Avignon before hiring a car and getting out and about.

 

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Our Last Night In Lyon

For our last night we went into a different area of Lyon, the Place de Terreaux just around the corner from the apartment.

Just A Short Walk Down A Couple Of Streetsa

The Place de Terreaux is a very large square that is surrounded by large impressive buildings on three sides and restaurants and cafes on the fourth side.

Place de Terreaux

Restaurants and Cafes

This is also the location of the wonderful Fontaine Bartholdi.

Fontaine Bartholdi

We just had a quite meal. a few drinks and enjoyed our last night in Lyon.

Eventually, we made our way back to our apartment.

Rue Lanterne and Our Apartment

Can honestly say that we have loved Lyon, and will miss it.

 

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I Love Sausages....Well, I Used To..

Today we went across to Old Lyon to have lunch, we were both looking to find some really tasty local dishes, and Old Lyon has plenty of eating places!!

As we got over there we were faced with hundreds of people......damn we forgot it was the weekend...locals everywhere, all out for a relaxing lunch!!!

People Everywhere!!

It took a little while to find an available seat in any restaurant, but we eventually found an empty table in a restaurant serving a good variety of local dishes.

After A While Seats Became Available

We both ordered "special" 3 course meals at a very reasonable price....a good way of trying out a variety of local dishes.

Tasty Starters

However, today all turned out to be about my main!!!!

I had looked around at other tables and noticed a few people order the Lyonaise Sausage with a Mustard Sauce.....looked great, so I ordered it!!

Looking across at an old lady who had started to eat her sausage I could see her pulling faces and continually sniffing her sausage....unusual.

Then on another table I noticed a young man start on his sausage, one bite in and he started to laugh....he offered the next fork of sausage to his girlfriend to taste....she let out a cry and spat it out......this was not looking good!! One thing that made me feel better was the fact that he continued to eat the sausage, even though each mouthful was followed by some comment and occassional laughter....starting to worry now.

The Mains Looked Great

Eventually our main meals arrived, Lesley had a very nice, tasty sausage and lentil dish....wish I had ordered it. My meal looked great...the mustard sauce was beautiful...the sausage was a whole other story.

As I cut into the sausage I realised that an old nemesis had returned........entrails!!!!!!

After I had chewed and swallowed the first mouthful, I looked over at Lesley and said...

"I don't think they cleaned my entrails very well".

"What do you mean?" she replied.

"Is it possible to have a meal that smells and therefore tastes like BUM?" I stated.

All I heard was hysterical laughter as Lesley tried to contain herself.

Yes, I had managed to order a fresh serve of slightly dirty bum sausage!!!!!!!!

For some reason Lesley did not want top taste my meal....very unusual!!!

Well, that was one local, regional dish I could really have done without!!

 

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She's Cooking, He's Exploring, Again!

Well, we started today off the same as we did yesterday... I walked with Lesley up the hill to her cooking class. The difference was that today I had been invited to tag along as they explored the food market, sounded to good to turn down, so off we went.

Yesterday, I was pretty sure I had found the little food market they would be visiting today, but to my surprise, where I had gone straight on, they turned left and very shortly we were in the very big food market of Croix-Rousse. This was easily as big as the one near our apartment and with just as much variety.

Exploring With The Cooking Class

Watching The Baker At Work

In The Local Cheese Shop

So what I thought would be a quick 10 minute walk around turned into a very enjoyable hour plus as we went through the food market, local patisserie shops, cheese shops and more....eventually they headed back to their class and I headed off to explore Lyon some more.

This time I headed to a lookout that looks over the eastern Lyon, and on a clear day you can see the distant Alps and Switzerland......today was one of those clear days.

The Massive Alps In The Distance

I had tried to get this photo yesterday, but it was so foggy I was lucky to see Lyon, happy I had got "the shot" I walked around Croix-Rousse for a while longer before heading down into Lyon again.

Steep Hills In Croix-Rousse

Well, actually I bought a light lunch for myself....more Quiche and a Raspberry Slice from the patisserie the class visited earlier. I also bought one Cep mushroom for dinner (it cost $10)...after all Lesley learnt some nice ways to cook these in yesterday's cooking class!!

Lunch For One!

One Expensive Mushroom

I then headed down to the apartment for a quick lunch. Then it was off over the River Rhone to the famous Les Halles de Lyon, a permanent indoor food market.

Across The Rhone

Electric Buses, Great Idea!

It only took around twenty minutes from the apartment to the market at Les Halles.

Les Halles de Lyon

I must admit that walking around this market did not impress me as much as I thought it would. I think that this was more due to seeing the two wonderful, very large, and varied outdoor markets at Parc Saint Antoine and Croix-Rousse.

Nice Looking Stalls at Les Halles

Les Halles struck me more as an "upmarket" market with some very nice looking eating places, but still worth a visit.

It was then all the way back up to Croix-Rousse to pick up Lesley from her cooking class....she has another brilliant day at Plum Cooking with a great group of people.

Gees, my feet are sore!!!!!

 

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