St Peter's Church - Avignon

 This afternoon, we set off late for Avignon, which about 40 minutes away from where we are staying in Rasteau. Avignon started off as a medieval walled city and is situated on the banks of the Rhone River. Over time, the city has grown beyond the walls, which are totally intact, but the old city is still large enough to accomodate about 12,000 inhabitants.  

Having set off late, we then lost time trying to find a suitable car park, which could take the Discovery. Many had a height limit of 1.90m, while our car is 2.0m with the roof rack. Eventually, we found one with a 2.0m height limit and 'park and ride' bus into the town.

Being Monday, most of the restaurants and shops were closed in the afternoon and some for the whole day, but we did find one, which specialised in limited choice of set menus of 'natural produce'. We both chose the risotto, but the waiter was 'desolated' to tell us that it was off the menu and the rest were not great choices.

Feeling a little unsatisfied (sometimes what you really want is a good burger!), we had a quick spin around the town. It really deserves a full day of sight-seeing. We spent time in St Pierre Eglise, which was very ornate, although not as ostentatious as we have seen in Italy. We did not have enough time to see the Papal Residence. So we look forward to returning again soon to see this and more of the city. By the way, this is the first time that we have seen a designer store since we arrived - a Hermes shop!