Today was our first day of riding. It was a little confusing at first, but fun. John and I did a bit of group cycling when we were in Croatia, but there were not many roads and we usually just all went at our own pace and just met up with the rest of the group every now and then. This was much more organized, but after a while I figured out how it worked. We have two lovely young women, both Italians, as our guides. Antonella was the lead guide, and when we road she was always in front. Silvia was sort of the “shepherd,” the guide who was always at the rear taking care of the slower bikers and any problems that might have happened. The cyclist who followed Antonella was expected to stop and “flag” turns at any confusing intersections.
After my adventures the previous evening, I had not slept as well as I hoped I would. So, feeling a little sorry for myself, when they announced that they had one extra e-bike available, for a small fee, of course, I decided to ask for it. It proved to be a good choice. I quickly fell into the routine of being the flag and then racing to catch up with Antonella as fast as I could.
Our route took us in a circle around Avignon. I recognized a number of the views from the cab ride the day before. Unfortunately, while there were many opportunities to stop and drink water, the guides were not that concerned with stopping to let us take pictures. There were a couple magnificent views of the city and its famous bridge that I just missed. John did many to use his phone to catch one of me on my bike.
Using the same technology, I just took random pictures of flowers and fruit. I am not sure why….
We stopped in a small town cafe to have a drink. There was a classic car show nearby. The Americans were struck to see that few of the cars were familiar to us and that none of them were made outside of Europe.
I was struck by how utterly deserted the village seemed. There were a handful of local people in the cafe, mostly older. But there was little life in the houses nearby. Most of them appeared closed and shuttered. This house actually looked like somebody might be living there.
Along the way, we caught sight of some other towns. This one was high on a ridge and I think our group was relieved to learn that we would not have to ride our bikes up to it.
Here are some of the our companions. Jill,
and Ray,
and Sherry and Giles.
Our group was always pretty easy to spot because of the orange bicycles. This helps identify them as the property of Girolibero, “Ride Free,” the Italian company that runs this tour.
We stopped for lunch in Villeneuve Les Avignon, or “New Avignon.” Why a new Avignon? Well there is a lot of history in that name! In the Middle Ages Avignon was an fairly significant town because of its location on the Rhone River. But its importance really grew in the fourteenth century when seven popes resided in Avignon rather than Rome. King Phillip IV of France disliked the power of the Papacy and particularly Pope Boniface VIII. After that Pope’s death, the result of his being beaten by Phillip’s allies, the French king forced the election of Raymond de Goth, the Archbishop of Bordeaux, to the see of Saint Peter. An ally of Phillip, de Goth, who took the name of Clement V, announced that Rome was too dangerous for him to live there and that he would reside instead in Avignon. Phillip ceded the area of Avignon itself to the Papacy, but established a new Avignon right across the river from the old one. This new Avignon was in French territory, and residences were built there for all the cardinals. Phillip knew that if the cardinals were living in French territory and supported by the French crown they would likely do whatever the French monarch wanted. It was an arrangement that lasted for nearly a century. Roman Catholics remember it as a particular low point in the history of the Papacy.
The town of Villeneuve Les Avignon may not be as much of a tourist magnet as the older settlement on the other side of the river, but it is a charming city with a wonderful town square.
Before I settled down to have lunch there, I walked around a bit. One of the main attractions in town in an old charter house, a monastery of the Carthusian order. I decided to check it out. When you enter off the street you walk through an impressive gate
into a lovely courtyard.
I quickly figured out, however, that not much is really left of the original building other than its walls. Religious orders were violently suppressed during the Revolution, and the tenuous peace later established by Napoleon between the Church and the French government, was not enough to restore any more than a handful of the old orders.
Probably more interesting to me was a later establishment, the House of the “Grey Penitents.” one of many quasi-monastic religious communities from this period. This was an a nearly perfect site of complete disrepair.
Even here, in a town that seemed quite prosperous, the streets seemed strangely empty.
John and I had a nice lunch. I decided that I had had enough of the foreign food and ordered “Le Burger.” But it arrived with a slab of gooey white cheese on it almost larger than the meat patty. Delicious! And while the frites were not as great as the ones I have had in Belgium, they were pretty darn good, too!
After lunch, John and I wandered around a bit. There was a small church nearby dedicated to Saint Mark. A baptism had apparently just taken place.
We had a chance to look around the medieval church for a few minutes before the priest closed it up.
Probably the most interested thing inside was a beautiful Renaissance painting of the pietà over a side altar.
We were a couple minutes late to rejoining the tour, and they were about to leave without us!
We had a quick ride back to the boat and the staff had cool fruit drinks and a few nibbles to welcome us back.
In the afternoon we had a walking tour of Avignon. Our guide was good, and she spoke excellent English, but by this time the temperature was nearly 100 and I found it hard to follow what she was telling us. I do remember something about this clock tower, a symbol of Avignon, being all that was left of some archbishop's residence.
And she made sure we saw the castle that Clement V had built.
The papal chapels, which you can see adjoining the castle on the left in the picture, was only moderately impressive despite extensive decoration and renovations.
There is still a small bit of the original Gothic architecture left, seeming quite incongruous among the prevailing baroque decor.
As the tour wound down, the temperature rose higher and higher. I found it almost impossible to listen to the guide, and started to fantasize about finding a cold Coke Zero somewhere. John sat down on a parapet,
and at last I managed to take a picture, though not a particularly good one, of the famous Pont d’Avignon.
We wandered slowly back to the ship and took quick showers. Tomorrow we leave Avignon start our trip down the Rhone.
