Sur le Pont d'Agivnon....

On Thursday I got a babysitter to watch the kiddos and Wendy, Dave and I went south to check out some sites in Provence. Since Dave is a walking history encyclopedia, it was really fun to go to Avignon again with them. We sat and ate lunch before going in and Dave gave me the history on the Papal Palace. I have decided that I'm learning and retaining far more European history living here a couple years than I did in any classes I ever took.
This could almost pass for a more ancient photo except for the modern art upside-down elephant staged out front ;)

the cloister..

and a view of a tower through one of the cloister arches.

Dave and Wendy resting in window seat, listening to the audio self-guided tour.

I liked the cross-shaped slits in the towers.

We also went out and checked out the Pont d'Avignon, the bridge with the famous song.

I had our babysitter teach me the song when I picked her up, so this time I was able to sing 'Sur le Pont d'Avignon' on the bridge. I know, you wish you all could have been there.

We spent a lot of time at Avignon, so we decided not to go all the way down to Nimes or Arles to see the Roman ruins there. We did have the time to go over to the Pont du Gard, an ancient aquaduct and bridge over the Gard River. It was constructed in the first century using no mortar, an amazing engineering feat!

Looking down on the Gard River off the bridge.

Our final stop for the day was the perched village of Gordes, which is definitely in my top picks of beautiful French towns! It's especially beautiful in the evening as the sun goes down and glows on the village buildings.

Wendy and Dave with Gordes in the background.

We ate a fabulous dinner (why do I always forget to take the food pictures? I guess we were too busy enjoying our wonderful food!)

A final view down one of the many cobblestone foot paths in Gordes.

Final post of Wendy and Dave's visit coming soon... (I'm on a roll now!)