Day 6 (Molly): Avignon — Sanary-sur-Mer
Today we explored the inner circle of Avignon beyond the 14th century castle walls. The main part of Avignon is a concentrated area full of medieval buildings with 100’s of years history behind them. This is by far the most run down city we’ve been to so far but closer to the centre it thrived, even out of season.
After a quick stroll down the narrow streets, they eventually lead out to a towering building — The Palais des Papes. We noticed that there were maintenance in progress and we found it comforting to know that they value these buildings as a timestamp of human history and take their upkeep seriously. To the south of the palace lay some Roman ruins originating from the 1st century at the base of the former town palace… incredible!
Time for breakfast! As has become standard now, we went on the hunt for a nice patisserie and came across ‘Boulangerie Patisserie’ just around the corner. Nobody spoke English here so we used our body language as much as possible to get by — due croissants et due cafés s’il vous plait. Our only other friend was a cute sleeping cat who made itself at home whilst we filled our bellies with pastries and caffeine.
With our tummies happy, we began our exploration of the Palace. We learned that the palace was actually 2 joined buildings which together form the largest Gothic building of the Middle Ages… time for a selfie!
We were eager to get going now to the south coast for warmer (and hopefully sunnier) climates, my turn to drive today. Before setting off we thought it best to check over my amazing Dizzy with oil and screen wash checks etc. All good to go!
As we made our way south, something truly amazing occurred… the sun came out for the SECOND TIME! Finally an excuse to look ‘cool’! We noticed the temperature getting warmer and poor James was melting in his thermals. The closer we got to the coast the more vegetation we saw in the landscape. It’s almost as if winter had never hit the south coast and it wasn’t long before palm trees and sand were present.
Our location tonight is Sanary-sur-Mer (on sea), a beautiful town built on the seafront. For the first time so far, our hotel was stationed just a quick 8 minute walk from the coastal strip and so we dumped our bags and had a leisurely walk down.
It wasn’t long before we found a place for a cheeky drink. James had a 6.5% Belgian beer and I had a Piña colada. These went down a treat and we both admitted to being a little tipsy… after all, we hadn’t had a real drink all week (and are known lightweights at the best of times).
James mentioned that crêpes were on his list of things to do whilst in France and we soon spotted a place that sold them. The man didn’t speak English and so physically picked up and showed us the fillings we could choose from. I had a sugar crêpe and James a Nutella.
Still feeling tipsy and ready for another, we searched for our next bar… and the next bar… and the next.
It wasn’t long before the hunger kicked in and, being the trip it was, we knew a great place to eat would be just around the corner… it was. I experienced perhaps the best dish I have ever had in my life — a sea food pasta (James stuck to his pizza).
With full bellies, we stumbled home and face planted our bed. Ready for the next adventure tomorrow.
