Day 4 - Wednesday, June 20 - Marseille to Avignon

We had time before we had to catch the train to Avignon so we went across the street to the harbor where fisherman had their live (and not so live) catches for sale. We then visited the oldest part of the city with narrow streets and churches and buildings that date back to the 1500s.

Bougainvillea (and Carmen) in the old city

The trip to the train station didn't quite go as planned on our dry run the day before. One of the incredibly long "up" escalators was out of order and we couldn't imagine dragging our surprisingly heavy suitcases up in the throng of people rushing to get into the train station. We had plenty of time so we found an "up" escalator that took us out another exit and we could roll the suitcases up the sidewalk to the train station.

Our train was only a few minutes late in departing and we had a pleasant hour and 10 minute trip through the countryside. The only complication was when we arrived in Avignon and needed to get a taxi. There were no taxis waiting and one needs to call for a taxi - our phones are not working France. Fortunately, a French woman came out who needed a taxi and called one for us - very nice of her! The trip to the dock was only a mile or so around the 15th century city wall.

After a light lunch, there was an introductory tour of Avignon which we left near the end to explore on our own. The highest point of Avignon has a park which overlooks the Rhone River below and ancient ruins across the river. At the time of the popes in Avignon, the pope and cardinals built houses on the other side of the river because Avignon "stank". We walked down to the famous Pont d'Avignon bridge and bought tickets to walk on the bridge with an English-language audio guide. The myth is that a shepherd heard God tell him to build a bridge across the river and when he went to Avignon, the bishop thinking he was crazy, told him that if he could perform a miracle, the bridge could be built. The shepherd picked up a huge stone that couldn't be moved and threw it into the river as the start of the bridge. He became Saint Benezet. (The bridge was actually started in the 12th century by a businessman).

Pont d'Avignon from the riverside

Pont d'Avignon from the hilltop

Pope's Palace from Pont d'Avignon

One of the more exciting parts of the trip back was crossing at a crosswalk where one has to stop 4 lanes of traffic speeding along. The cars DO stop if you raise your hand and start walking across but it takes some faith!

Back at the ship we had a safety drill where everyone had to put on a life jacket and meet on the top deck. Later when the ship manager was talking about safety, he said that the ship sank the year before and since the river is not so deep, the top deck was still above water so they just opened the bar. (Just kidding!)