Orange

 March 28 Avignon

Change of plans, stayed in Avignon for the day attending to a medical issue for Andre.

The Pharmacist recommended a doctor who quickly took care of Andre.

Steps 11,000 or 7KM,  Wendy's steps, Andre did a lot less as I did some running around for things. 

March 29 Orange

Decide to take the bus today, it is only 1,50 Euro each way and about a 40 minute bus ride. The bus rides can be interesting seeing some of towns that you certainly don't see on the trains. Buses here seem to act as much as school buses as anything else. Kids getting off and on all the time.

Once again the bus station is about 1KM from the tourist information and the main part of town. Picked up a great map of this small little town and we are off. Orange was on Andres list because of the theatre, one of the best preserved in the world. When I looked up things to do in Orange there are 2 Roman monuments, a park, a museum, and shops, that is it. For me sounded perfect for the day.

First off we walked to the Roman Arch de Triomphe, which has had some restoration done and was quite impressive. It is in the middle of what is now a traffic circle with places to sit and walk around the monument. There was restoration being done while we were there, the van was from Arles, if you were into restoration Arles would definitely be somewhere to work I would think.

Next we headed back into town and stopped at a great little spot that made samosas which were delicious. We had a little platter to share, along with a local beer and orange juice, we are good to go again.

Next stop is the theatre, which you purchase a ticket to the theatre it is a combined ticket with the museum, so I guess we will be going to a museum today as well. This is our 3^rd theatre this trip, and this one had a audio guide as well, by now I think we may be able to be tour guides! This theatre is from the 1^st century AD and is famous for its huge stage wall. We certainly have never seen anything like this before, it was amazing. The theatre is still in use today, it would be amazing to see something here. Of course we climbed to the top of the theatre, which also gave us some nice views of the city, it also gave us a view of what our seats would have been if we were there for a show since it seems like we always sit near the very top! The climb up was a little rough, so so windy it was crazy. I was very happy that when we went down we went down a back way that had railings and wasn't nearly as bad as walking up, but oh that wind. 

Over to the museum next which was the exact right size for us. I mentioned to the girl taking tickets how windy it was, she said that this is nothing like it can be, glad I wasn't there on what they call a windy day. Andre is happy to see coins in this museum, I think it is the first museum we have been in that had coins. I think there were about 20 coins on display, all donated anonymously in 2020 by someone.

Explore a little more of Orange, some nice little restaurants and shops and pretty streets. Lots of flowers in bloom now, and flower boxes have all been filled by the city.

We liked this town very much, nice and small to just explore for half a day.

Train back home and get to talk to Jill and Joey. Got more recommendations for Netflix shows as lots of rain for Easter weekend coming up.

Today's steps 16,000 or 10KM

At the bus station,  don't think it has moved for a while

Our bus ride took us thru the Chateauneuf-du-Pape vineyard region.

Cote du Rhone wines are very reasonable here but Chateauneuf-du-Pape is still very expensive

Wonder if strawberries are cheaper there than in town, which are very expensive

Traffic circle promoting the aircraft museum in a town

Now in Orange

The lilac blossoms smelled great

The Roman Arc de Triumph

Walked the old town street back

A stop for lunch, guess who is having what

We shared a delicious platter

No churches visit today

The forum remains

The ramparts, not much either

At the Theater now

One of the best preserved Roman theater back wall in the world

The forum remains again

Street side view of the theater back wall

At the museum, one room was for Roman antiquities

Ancient coins

Magnifying glass to see the details on the coins

Maps of the area and the status of each plot

The decorations that would have been on the theater wall

Second floor, Painting depicting Orange textile industry

2 other rooms had old paintings from 2 Orange residents

 

On the way home

Much more colours in the buildings here

Old theater

Great architecture on the Rue de la Republic

From the bus ride home