Day Four - Avignon, France

Our guide, Martine, meets us at the ship at 9:00 am for an Avignon Walking Tour. We enter the walled city through one of the old gates. Avignon is a city more Medieval than Roman and currently has a population of 60,000.

The highlight of this tour is a visit to the Papal Palace, the seat of the Papacy from 1309 to 1377 and now a museum. This enormous Gothic building with walls 17-18 feet thick was built between 1335-1364 during the reign of four of the seven popes who lived in Avignon. Evident on the walls inside the palace are signatures or "marks" of the workman -- they marked the stones they hauled to get paid. As we walk through the winding streets of this charming city --- all of a sudden as a corner is turned a massive structure appears -- The Papal Palace.

We enter the palace visiting the Chapel with its original frescoes (the only areas we cannot photograph are where frescoes still exist). The next stop on the inside tour is the Kitchen on the third floor (no elevator) -- it has a sixty foot high chimney -- then to the Dining Room --a vast hall that could seat hundreds for up to a nine course meal of meats and fishes. The building is made of limestone -- heat was produced by fireplaces -- insulation was provided by the thick limestone walls as well as rugs and tapestries within the palace. We were told that people wore up to 40 pounds of clothing just to keep warm.

Moving on to the Pope's apartments -- there is the anti-chamber where guests would wait to meet with the Pope in his bedroom. The bedroom is relatively small but has a "throne-type" chair for the small audiences. It is a lovely room with a wood ceiling and frescoes on the wall. There is a set of stairs used by the popes as a short-cut to the chapel. It is reported that some popes kept birds in cages in this room. Next door is the Pope's study with the original wooden ceiling decorated with frescoes -- the Pope would spend his alone time in this room. The last room we visit is the "Hall of Justice of the Popes" where very large audiences and gatherings were held.

We have lots of time after the palace tour so decide to go to Mass at Basilique Saint Pierre at 11:15a -- all in French. During our walk to the Palace I had spotted a Brocante (flea market) in the Clock Tower Plaza -- so just before Mass I make a quick detour (by myself) to see what it was all about. It was quite large with everything you can imagine. I could have spent the afternoon -- but didn't. It appears that although all the shops are closed on Sundays -- there are makets such as this one everywhere.

Back on board -- we travel the Rhone passing through several locks -- it takes longer than expected so we are late arriving at Viviers -- where Rachel has scheduled a ghost walk after dinner. Since we will not arrive till about 10:30am -- Rachel suggests that all guests still game for the ghost tour wear white bathrobes from our cabins.

So we do -- Patte, Phil and I join the group led by Mylene -- dressed in medieval garb -- as she leads us down a long boulevard lined with large plane trees into Viviers. As we arrive in the middle of town -- all of a sudden an apparition dressed as a medieval man jumps out in front of the group. He introduces himself as the ghost of Noel Albert and says he is looking for his muse so he can paint. He picks Patte from the crowd and brings her over to sit on the edge of the fountain holding an apple and proceeds to paint with great drama -- he is funny and has a lot of flourish. Once the painting is finished he gives it to Patte -- it is an 8" x 10" white canvas with a black stick figure holding an apple. His signature takes up about one-third of the canvas.

We proceed through this town which is partially abandoned however investors have started to purchase properties to be renovated so about one-third of the buildings are inhabited. One does get the feeling of walking the streets during the Middle Ages. We visit several buildings and even go into one of the homes -- where we again encounter the ghost of Noel Albert.

This was a very busy day -- we returned to the ship about midnight.

Thanks for reading.