Bonjour from beautiful and semi-warm Uzes, France.We decided to take a short trip and visit Avignon, it’s only 50 minutes away. Many of you are familiar with Avignon, as some of the Viking river cruises start here.Avignon is famous for its 14th century city walls which are still basically intact. But first, let’s visit Avignon Les Halles, Avignons famous central market.Two days before Christmas, it’s fully decorated and the stalls are ready. Bring ‘em on!Spectacular!Note the age of the butchers. France has a fantastic apprenticeship program to get kids involved in trades. 🤔Fromageries, can’t say France without cheese.The French love fancy foods.Spices like Istanbul.Wouldn’t be France without a wine store, or two, or three.The bakery, wow!😎What’s France without a potato stand!Even Santa’s there.Ok, walking tour.One of the centerpieces of Avignon, the Palais des Papes, or the Popes Palace.The palace, built in the 1300’s, was only used by the Pope for less than 70 years. It only became a part of France after the French Revolution 🤔Front entrance into the palace.Cathedrale Notre-Dame des DomsEntrance to the gardens of Rocher des Doms.View from the gardens.Beautiful!
Pont Saint-Benezet, also known as Pont d’Avignon. This bridge was built in the 1100’s, destroyed in a war in the 1200’s. It was rebuilt several times as it was washed out, and eventually they abandoned it in the 1700’s.
Joyeux Noel from our family to yours and try and stay warm.😜
Bonjour from beautiful Uzès, France.A couple problems with the blog made me change addresses. Let’s see what happens 🤔A short drive from Uzès is the world famous wine region Châteauneuf-du-Pape. It’s namesake is this old (1000 AD) Château that’s had many lives until the Nazis used it as an ammunition dump during WW11. When the Germans were retreating in 1944, they blew up all the remaining ammunition in this Château, resulting in the skeletal remains you see here.The village of Châteauneuf-du-Pape, it’s very small.The real story here is the wine region above.The unique terroir makes the wines here famous for their ability to age for many, many years. (This picture was taken on a previous trip in June 2019.) The village is full of Caves, small shops where they offer the wine’s from the local Château’s.Some of the Château’s representative of the area.Enough talk, let’s drink some wine.Ok, this looks good. The region is famous for the wines from new French oak.Our tour was very informative.However, drinking was much better. The wine is not inexpensive, but now and then, it’s fun to treat yourself.Couple of happy campers here.Cindy with our hosts, Château De La Gardine.Châteauneuf-du-Pape, it’s fantastic.
Trafton’s European Adventure Part Two