May 6th
We’ve seen it now! The papal palace of Avignon and the old city surrounded by walls with watchtowers. We drove past it with Auli as we drove by to pick up the rental car from Avignon train station. We also had a cursory glance at the Rhône River, reminiscing about how, in our younger days, we enjoyed a few bottles of Côtes du Rhône – or was it something like that? When bought, it probably sounded like: “Göts dy Röön!”
There’s a song about Avignon (maybe more than one). The most peculiar old bridge was one that ended in the middle of the river. A bit like in that song sung by Mårtenson, where some stairs led nowhere!
Avignon looked quite impressive as we drove past, so we decided to spend next Monday exploring the city by bike (Tellu will be in the carage nearby). Apparently, six popes used to reside there!
We got the car, said our goodbyes to Auli, and set off towards Antibes in our brand new Peugeot. The fierce brakes surprised us at the first lights. The powerful engine gave us good opportunities to merge onto the motorway smoothly from the acceleration lane, even though the speed limit is 130 km/h. Along the way, we saw quite unique mountain-like formations, vineyards, and quite a lot of traffic. The French drive rather abruptly and squeeze their cars into such tight spaces that it’s genuinely frightening! Horns are here used for a reason.
Without major mishaps, we reached our destination, got the keys to our Airbnb apartment, and received instructions on how to use it. We drove the car a kilometer away to a free parking lot to await possible use in the coming days. We walked from the parking lot to the charming urban scenery of our accommodation. As our first task, we started the laundry to have clean clothes for tomorrow. We haven’t done much laundry during the trip!
The apartment is less than 25 square meters in size, but spread over two floors, there’s just enough space for two people to live comfortably – for a few days!
We also needed dinner, so we went in search of a suitable place. There are plenty of them here – charming little bistros one after another. Eva has visited Antibes several times and directed us to a restaurant on the edge of the square, where we just managed to find seats. The staff was busy but friendly. We had an excellent meal with starters and desserts, local beer, and rosé wine. The seafood broth with garlic aioli and cheese-topped toast was a new experience for me. The broth reminded me somewhat of Bouillabaisse, so I assumed it also used the broth from cooking shellfish. But what a tasty combination. I’ll try something similar sometime when I have suitable victims to feed it to!
In the evening, we had time to watch the news and sports bulletin (only I watched). Dallas advanced and will face Colorado in the next round… if anyone cares. There was a lot more on the screen – and surely much more important stuff too. If it starts to interest you, dig up the broadcast on Areena. I’m going to bed now! The world can lie in whatever position it desires! Good night!