Day 1: Sur le Pont d’Avignon

Day 1 of our Viking River Cruise, embarkation day, provided us with just a brief sample of the city of Avignon, France in the region of Provence. We arrived late in the afternoon and, after settling into our cabins, we joined the welcome walk through the historic center with a local guide.

Avignon is a walled city with narrow medieval streets and loads of French charm. The historic center is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

IMG_0061

View of historic Avignon from outside the city walls

IMG_0117

Avignon city walls

IMG_0075

The Avignon City Wall

IMG_0080

Our group on the welcome walk

IMG_0091

Beautiful architecture with typical French charm

IMG_0092

Another charmer 

IMG_0088

A gated view 

Avignon is historically significant as the seat of the Papacy from 1309 to 1378. (More on that later.) The view in the photo below of the outside of the Palace of the Popes stirred our anticipation for the tour of the palace scheduled on day 3 of our cruise.

IMG_0089

Palais des Papes (Palace of the Popes)

IMG_0093

Palais des Papes

IMG_0096

Conservatory of Music on the Place du Palais across from the palace

The main square, Place de l’Horloge, is the center of many community activities with the National Opera Theater, the Hotel de Ville (City Hall), and even a carousel. It’s also a perfect place for people watching.

IMG_0100

National Opera Theater

IMG_0102

Hotel de Ville (City Hall)

IMG_0107

Place de l’Horloge

IMG_0101

Carousel on Place de l’Horloge

There are over 50 locations with trompe l’oeil (a painting technique to create optical illusion) in Avignon and our guide pointed out one for us on the Place de Sorano. Window peeking is acceptable in this building.

IMG_0097

I learned the children’s nursery rhyme, Sur le Pont d’Avignon (On the Bridge of Avignon), in my high school French class and I can still sing it to this day. The bridge in the song was built across the Rhone River in the 12th century but flooding destroyed it several times until finally, in the 17th century it was abandoned. Today only 4 of the original 22 arches remain but it’s one of the major tourist attractions in Avignon.

IMG_0067

Le Pont d’Avignon

After our guided stroll through the historic center, we stopped to shop at Le Chateau du Bois to purchase some lavender oil, a well-known product of Provence.

 

IMG_0085

Le Chateau du Bois in Avignon

 

 

IMG_0120

Lavender growing in Avignon

 

 

IMG_0115

Lori and I with our lavender purchases from Chateau du Bois

To close out day 1 of our river cruise on the Viking Buri, we enjoyed our first meal prepared by Executive Chef, Pascal Vallee, and his staff.

IMG_0136

IMG_0137

IMG_0135

IMG_0138

 

IMG_0139

Desserts

Everything including the wine was delicious and we looked forward to each and every meal thereafter.

 

IMG_0131

Dinner on the Viking Buri

Based on events from October 2016.

 

 

 

Categories: cruise, Europe, Uncategorized, UNESCO | Tags: , , | Leave a comment

Post navigation

Leave a Reply

Powered by WordPress.com.

%d bloggers like this: