I started yesterday with a bit of background on this important city, so if your memory is like mine, read it again. As my parents used to say when we were in a hurry, and I appeared to be elsewhere, Im not going to repeat myself ! Luckily for you, there is no implied punishment attached to this, and I dont think there ever was for me. It was just an often futile attempt to get me to snap out of it, fire up, pull your finger out, and as my father never swore in his life, thats as colourful as it got.
Approaching Avignon, via Google Maps, the overall impression and leaves a lot to be desired. According to Tim, France has a view that cutting back overgrown roadside weeds is rarely done, because they will die anyway, and they do provide nutrients for bees and other insects. It just looks horrible. And why does bamboo flourish on every inch of vacant ground. Its probably too late to control it now.
The first glimpse of suburbia seemed to resemble a rundown industrial area, and a temporary campsite. Small allotments were concealed
by grey stained concrete walls fortified with barbed wire, and the road outside was reserved by lengths of hessian tape draped between two old car seats. Modest, cement sheet clad cabins hid at the back of each block, concealed by caravans, cars, and collected of second hand materials that might be used for renovations or repairs. The streets were littered with rubbish and old vehicles, but fortunately this was a small sample of Avignon.
With limited time, we decided to take a tour on the tourist train that wound around the Old Town for 45 minutes, highlighting the history and significant points of interest. You are viewed as a caged animal by those on foot when you take these tours, and in a way you are. The jury is still out for me on the value of them. Lunch was gnocchi with mushrooms at a restaurant in a quiet, cobbled, shady little plaza, away from the hectic rush outside the Popes Palace. The most impressive part of Avignon is the battlements surrounding the old town, stil in remarkable condition. They are 4360
metres long, and would have been impenetrable when they were built in the 14th century. We drove away from Avignon at 2pm, with an hour to spare before the Bull Festival at the stadium.
A stop at the Ponte du Gard was included in the spare hour, so we needed the visit to the Aqueduct to be brief. Theres not much to do except look at it so I couldnt see a problem.
The Ponte du Gard is a well preserved three tiered aqueduct built around 19BC. Each block was carved by hand and transported from nearby quarries. It is 275 metres long, 48.8 metres high and could transport 20.000 cubic meters of water per day. Its existence enabled water to be transported to Nimes for over 300 years, and is just another example of Roman ingenuity. The gradient down hill is just 2.5cm over its length, as this is the grade they considered was ideal to deliver the water at a practical speed. I have dropped all these stats at your feet just to show how amazing it is. Its considered the greatest Unesco World Heritage listed site, and it would be hard to argue against it.
We only stayed for about 30 minutes, walked around the site, Tim waded into the river, took some pics ( yes, the pictures are his ) and I chatted to a family from Bern in Switzerland for a while. It was a interesting cultural exchange, and Im sure they left feeling short changed.
They first asked me if I spoke English, and I replied, Sort of, Im Australian. It would have been funny if they hadnt thought I said Austrian. The father said something in Swiss, and thats never a good sign. Do the Swiss like Austrians; the look suggested, not so much. Eventually, the youngest daughter who is a trainee nurse, asked where I was from. Rather than mention an Austrian town, Melbourne, Australia, was my slow clear reply; we were friends again. The mother explained to me that her English was not good but she spoke some Spanish.
No problems, habl espaol, poco,poco.
