Sticking around Avignon again today. We have discovered that many things are closed on Mondays in France, so decided we would just stick around here today instead of going somewhere that lots of things are closed.
Todays adventures started off with Andre going to pick up croissants for breakfast, remember lots of things closed on Mondays, well the first 2 bakeries he tried were closed today. Finds a new bakery we hadn't been to yet just around another corner from one of the bakeries we had been to, they were delicious, will go back to that bakery again.
We did the final walk on the tourist map of Avignon, called “Strolling along the Old Streets”. Many of the streets we had previously walked along, but the map pointed out points of interest that of course we had walked by and hadn't noticed. One of the churches had been recommissioned as a spot for artists to show their art, we spent quite a bit of time in here speaking to a man from France reliving his visit to Canada, Canada had a very special place in his memories, it was a great visit. Lots of little twisty streets that the map states ask for help to find you way, it was a fun day. Many many churches, sometimes 3 on the same block, thankfully most all were locked up or we may be still out there with Andre wanting to visit all inside. All of the churches we have seen here have been Catholic, with the exception of one Protestants, called United something, and one Synagogue. I am going to ask at the information centre if any services are done in English for Easter, but I have my doubts.
Many spring flowers and trees are now in blossom. The plane trees are some of my favourite, though not in bloom yet when the wind blows the old foliage is still blowing off and spreading all over, the most fun is if you select a table outside under these trees chances are your waiter is going to brush off your table, and you will be brushing the leaves off yourself by the end of your meal. Lots of these plane trees in Provence, they are some kind of hybrid of the sycamore tree that were brought here in the 16th century to Southern France, we have seen them everywhere. The original plan was to keep the marching army cool under the canopies of the trees. I am sure they provide fantastic shade in the summer, they are beautiful large trees.
For lunch today we went to a restaurant very close to our apartment that has a different Plat du Jour every day. We are following this restaurant on Facebook, prices are reasonable, and today we decided was the day to try it out, asparagus risotto with parma ham. We were a little late going around 1:30, arrived and were told there was only 1 special plate left, yep I got it. It is just a very small restaurant, 3 or 4 tables outside, not sure about inside as we choose to eat outside whenever possible. Their other specialty was burgers, Andre loves burgers so he is fine, plus he knows he will get some of mine too. It was absolutely delicious, we will definitely be returned and watching the specials. We heard one local say this is the first time he was not able to get the special, we will try to go earlier next time.
Back to the apartment for a rest up after all our walking and eating, then out again to pick up a couple of supplies. It is supposed to rain tomorrow and more milk is in order for tea if we are going to be in the apartment for most of the day. We haven't quite figured out the milk purchase here, some milk is on shelves, and some milk is in the fridge. Fridge milk says fresh milk, we've been buying the shelf milk mostly because we are normally walking around for a bit and not straight home. The bottle from yesterday expires in June, don't want to look at the ingredients. Another thing like most everywhere else in the world except North America, eggs are not in the fridge, they are out on shelves.
Tonight is the first night for a market for the summer that is pretty much just outside the gates where we are staying. The paper says 5-7PM tonight, what a strange time for a market. Off we go at 5PM, obviously a really local market, everyone seems to know each other. It is not very big, maybe 12 different trucks to buy from, but the prices are amazing! Less than 1/2 of what the market in town is selling for and cheaper than all of the stores we have been picking up groceries. Asparagus is in season now, we now have a lot to eat over the next week or so. Lettuce is .60 Euro, but Strawberries are still ridiculously expensive, but lots of people purchasing them. They just came into season, maybe next week prices will go down. It is only on Monday nights, we will visit again next Monday for sure.
Quiet night, the rain has started and expected to go on for the next 24 hours or so. Our rental brought us all clean towels and sheets earlier, and tomorrow we will do a bit of cleaning, exciting plans.
Our walk this morning gave us more steps than we had anticipated, it was another great day.
Steps 17,000 or 10.6 km.
Recycling a phone booth into a library
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