Alone Again

Sadly, our friends, Dick and Eileen, departed for Paris this morning and we are alone again in Chateaurenard.  It was WONDERFUL to be able to share our love of this country with them and to explore around with them.  They did get the benefit, however, of having sent an "advance team" (that is, us).  We were able to drive them up to various view spots which we had to initially climb up many stairs to get to, as we didn't have a clue where the road was. We could also guide them to a number of the very best sites.   However, they were quite appreciative which made it all worthwhile.  We had a great time. 

Yesterday, we had one last wonderful day.  We started by taking them up to Orange, north of Avignon, so they could visit the wonderful roman theatre there.  We explored the town a bit while they checked out the magnificent theatre, then we drove through the beautiful vineyards to Chateauneuf-de-Pape had a delicious lunch in the town square.  After lunch we visited a vineyard  (see the bottom two pictures to the right!) and sampled a little wine.  The wine sampling wasn't very impressive but the vineyard sure was!

Then it was off to Avignon.

We visited the Papal Palace and the famous Pont de St Benezet (Pont d'Avignon of nursery rhyme fame).  (Pictures are to the left).  The audio guide that comes with admission to the palace, we all found very frustrating.  It was hard to follow what they were talking about and it generally wasn't very interesting.  The one for the bridge was much better and even sang the song to us at the end.  We then had a lovely final dinner (in St. Remy of course).  Our friends had a wonderful time.  They even got to experience the great Le Mistral wind which howled the night before last and nearly blew us over yesterday.  It was gusting to almost 40 mph - which is ALOT.

We are starting to wind down our exploration of Provence and will head to the Mediterranean coast shortly.  We will spend two nights in an air conditioned hotel!!!  on the way to Nice - just for a break and to get access to some of the wonderful beach towns in the Var region - Cassis, Hyeres, and the islands.  Then it will be on to our new home in Nice on Friday.  We will have to give up the car we have been enjoying as part of this first exchange, as the people whose house we are in now return to Nice airport on Saturday morning.  Initially we felt bad that we were putting alot of kilometeres on the car, but then we got email from them that they had just spent 3 days wandering around Vermont, New Hampshite and Maine - and we were no longer concerned.   I would say this exchanged has worked out pretty well, all in all.