France Day 9

Friday, October 7, 2011

The operative word for today is WINDY. Like really big wind. Kind of cold wind too. But still mostly blue sky with pretty white clouds. And huge winds. Blow you over kind of wind. Very cool.

We headed off, not quite so early, again, toward Avignon, to then head up to the Pont Du Gard. Wow. Really, just wow.

It is a beautiful bridge. Or at least that is what it looks like. Yet they also tout that it is part of the Roman aqueduct system. It took me awhile to figure out how it could be both. They had to build this massive bridge in order to put the aqueduct on top of it to get water into Avignon. Now it is celebrated more as a bridge with the aqueduct kind of secondary. At least that is the way I see it. And in reality you can't physically see the aqueduct. But you can definitely see the bridge. It is amazing to think of the time period that they built this, and the technology they had at the time. Really amazing.


We were going to explore a few more areas today but mom is a bit under the weather so we headed home. Unfortunately our GPS system took us the vey long way through Avignon during rush hour. Yuck. Silver lining to the traffic; I was able to get a lot of photos of the old walls surrounding the city. Really pretty. (This is how I took a lot of pics.)

The GPS then wigged out and started to take us somewhere other than our apartment. Luckily I knew how to get there. I'm not sure how the trust thing will go in the future with that lady.

So this evening will be spent in, drinking a lovely red wine, reading a bit, maybe knitting a bit. But seriously relaxing.
A few observations to go with my wine:

French drivers are insane. They drive very, very fast, everywhere. It is top speed even if it is only 200m. They also need to be as absolutely close to your bumper as possible.

Some of the roads here are insanely skinny. Like I'm not really sure I can pass by that car coming at me the other way skinny. Combine that with the info above. Yikes.

We have some very cute neighbors.

We have a gorgeous persimmon tree in the front yard of our little house. I think I will try one. I wonder when persimmons are in season. I wonder how you tell if they are ripe. (EDIT: Not ripe.)

I miss my girl, the man, my kitties, my house, the way my house smells, my shower, my hot water tank. Interesting side note: the French have large heavy steel drums to house their hot water. They heat it at night with an immersion heater when electricity costs less. If you run out during the day, you wait until morning for more. Thus short showers in weird small uncomfortable shower type things. Think of taking a shower on a boat, or in a motor home. That is what they have been like.

Traveling with mothers can some times be challenging. And that is all I am going to say. Other than I am sure it must also be challenging to travel with daughters. (Hi Mom!)


Oh, oh, I forgot to mention: I went into a McDonalds today. In France. I am kind of sad but it was really cool. You know I love McD. I really do. But this is France. The food here is so much better. Every kind of food is so much better. I had made a promise to myself not to go into one. I mean seriously, this is France. But we needed a bathroom. So there you go. And they had free wi-fi, pronounced wee fee. They also served my Coke Light with ICE! Yes, I had a soda with ice. Heaven. But I only ordered fries. Promise.