Marseille is the largest port in the Mediterranean and the second largest city in France. We were up on deck early today watching the view as we cruised along the coastline.
Once our bus left the port area we drove for about an hour and a half to get to Avignon. Lots of little French farms, the land is quite dry and brown as its end of summer here.
We stopped at Pont du Gard, the three tiered Roman aqueduct dating back to 40 BC. It crosses the Garden River and used to carry 44 million gallons of water a day from Uzes to Nimes.
The aquaduct has no concrete holding it together, its designed to withstand shifts in the earth and is still standing strong after 2000 years.
We passed through a lot of vineyards, they look quite different to ours in Australia. The vines are kept very low to the ground so that they are not damaged by the winds, the ground it rocky and dry and each plot is small.
We arrived at Avignon to see the Palace of the Popes, where nine popes ruled the Catholic church from for 500 years.
This was the town square, beautiful old buildings, lots of places to eat and drink..
The Palace courtyard
The decorations and furniture had almost all been removed, most wealthy buildings were stripped bare and often destroyed following the French Revolution, so the building is basically empty, though you could see where decorations had been on the walls and ceilings. This room is a huge banqueting hall and used to have big tapestries covering the walls.
My favourite room was the Popes chamber – but as it still has the painted wall decorations you could not take any photos ( a few rooms were like this). The floors were beautifully tiled similar to this pic below and the walls painted in a beautiful crimson and blue pattern – would make great fabric!
Up on the roof of the Palace
You could see out over the whole city..
Portraits of the nine Popes who ruled here
Then we went out on these cobblestone streets and spent some time shopping and exploring the town. Every second shop was selling lavender so it smelt really nice. A lot of shops close from 1 – 3pm for lunch, as our guide told us – people take lunch seriously in France!
The city walls of Avignon
The Pont de Avignon – built in 1171
