We left the beautiful mountains of the northeastern side for the southeast region of France called Avignon. We were already prepped and ready for the southeast to be super hot (it is the Mediterranean region, after all), so the insane heat wave affecting France right now didn't severely change the heat that already exists in this region of France.
BUT.
Folks, I do these trips partly to avoid summer heat from my home-state of South Carolina. And this heat is just bonkers. I'm looking forward to HOPEFULLY getting cooler temps soon (I say 'hopefully' because, originally, the heat wave was supposed to end in two days, but it already looks like there's a second heat wave that's going to batter us when we go to areas that are usually a delightful temp...but that's future Cris and Paul's problem).
We decided to go to the heat-filled region mainly for one reason: Ancient Roman stuff!!! When we were doing our research, I was pleasantly surprised to learn that there were quite a few Roman ruins we could see in this area. So that's the main theme for the three-ish days we're adventuring in this part.
Day Seven: Travel, Cute Cliffside Village, and Opera
Today was a travel day, as we left the mountains for the Mediterranean climate. It was four hours of driving today, so we decided to stop half way to this adorable cliffside village, Pont-en-Royans.
It's a super cute medieval village that is nestled on the cliff with a river and waterfall at the bottom. It was fun walking the village and staring at the unique architecture of each house in the cliff wall. Plus, they have this fun water feature by the river so folks can cool off in this hotter region of France.
We walked around and I ogled all the buildings, and then we ate lunch. It was the best burger I've ever eaten in my life. I should have bought three more for the road. It's all I'm thinking about and I want more. (Also, random sidenote: on past trips, Paul has been the one obsessed with some sort of food - like seafood chowder - but this time, it might be me as I am currently obsessed with beef tartare and I can't stop eating it. Mmm...).
After that amazing lunch, we grabbed groceries and found our new airbnb for the next few days. It has air-conditioning, so it has been BLISS. We cooled off for a bit in the ac and then headed to Orange, France.
First, we stopped at the Arc de Triomphe. Most people only know about the one in Paris, which we already don't want to visit because Paris is too busy to drive in. But this Arc de Triumph is also well-preserved and there was hardly anyone else around. I LOVE that crowd-less feature and we soaked in the beauty for quite a while.
Next up, we got all culture-fancy by going to listen to an Opera Singer. Maybe she's famous, but we're not actually REALLY culture-fancy (just pretending) so I have no idea. Her name is Nadine Sierra if that helps. The really cool part was that it was done in the Théâtre antique d'Orange, which is a Roman Theatre (!!) that's still standing and used.
It was soooooo cool to admire the brilliant engineering that allows for such great acoustics without need of a microphone. The singing was beautiful, the building was equally beautiful, but the heat was almost unbearable. Fortunately, it cooled off when the sun set. She was still doing encores at 11pm, but we could barely keep our eyes open and still needed to drive 45 minutes to our place, so we snuck out and hit the road. We fell asleep instantly, after a great day of sites.
Day 8: Checking Out Roman Things in Arles
Despite our late night, we woke up super early to beat the heat. You know the saying: "when in Rome Avignon, do what the Romans French do". The French over in this hotter Avignon region do things in the morning, then take siestas during the heat, and then do things again. So we decided to give it a try.
Today's plans were mainly to do a walking tour of the town Arles. Again, it's a place heavily influenced by the Roman Empire. The center of the town has lots and lots of Roman ruins/things to check out, and most tourists do the walking tour in order to see all the good stuff.
We saw SOOOO many Roman ruins in this area! It's hard to keep track of them all. Here's a few of them:
Roman Gladiator Arena (Amphitheater)
Roman Theater
Roman Cryptoporticus (a somewhat mysterious underground cavern - it was delightfully cool down there)
Saint-Trophime Cloister ("only" a 15th century building....boo! Just kidding - still cool)
We ambled around beautiful streets of old old old buildings and took in all the sights from these ruins. If you like Vincent Van Gogh, there's stuff to do in Arles around that topic, too, but Paul and I aren't really into art so we didn't check them out.
After lots and lots of walking, plus our night of very little sleep, we were exhausted and overheating. We planned to go home, cool off, and then go do some other things, but we ended up passing out for a deep nap and didn't feel like leaving the beloved ac for more things. That's okay. Arles gave us plenty of pictures and memories and it was wonderful to spend the day there.
Day 9: Avignon Palace of the Popes and Aquaducts
Today we headed to the city of Avignon to check out the Palace of the Popes. For a brief history lesson, this is where the Popes moved the Christian capital/center for a bunch of years during the Great Schism drama in the 1300s. The popes (six of them) were determined to pretend that Avignon could be like a 'new Rome' and powerhouse for the church, so they went all out with stuff in Avignon.
There's fortified walls and beautiful buildings all over the place in this city. And the most glorious was where the Popes lived/worked: The Palace of the Popes.
It's a huge place, and the reviews said to expect it to take 2-3 hours to do the tour. So we left early again to beat the heat and got there just as the doors were opening.
While it might not have been the most beautiful place we've been (architecture was great but nothing special and there's no artwork or furniture, etc.), it was still overwhelmingly awe-inspiring. They wanted us common folks to be filled with awe by making all the ceilings and rooms super huge. (Alas, despite the large rooms, the hallways still were small and challenging for my Tall Paul).
The Palace of the Popes started out as a great tour, but, by the end, the tour groups were crowding the rooms and it was getting HOT in there. I cannot even imagine how awful it is in that building by 3pm. As it was, by the end, I was close to hyperventilating because the crowds and pressing heat was really getting to me. I was grateful for the end.
By the time we were done, we were starving. We were originally going to drive out of the city to find lunch (we really really hate cities), but we were so hungry that we made the mistake of grabbing sandwiches from the Square - a tourist no-no because it's garbage food made for tourists and not for locals. Sigh...we knew better but we really were sooooo hungry. Hopefully that's the worst food on our trip and I'll try to put a granola bar in my purse for emergencies next time.
We gratefully drove in our ac-cold car for the ride back. We stopped next at Pont du Gard, which is one of the best preserved Roman aquaduct bridges in the world. It was super cool to see that architecture and insanely HUGE ruin/structure.
We planned on swimming there in the river underneath it, but you guys, the HEAT was insane. Our swimming stuff was in the car, so we hiked back to the car and by then we were SO hot, we were miserable and a bit sick. So we headed back to our beloved ac-cooled airbnb to recoup.
After a lovely siesta, we went to a winery (finally! Why did we wait this long to get wine in France?!?) and then went swimming on the river, right next to the Pont du Gard. What a way to end the day! Don't mind us, just casually swimming by ancient ruins....
Overall, it's been a great few days, full of amazing history. We're exhausted every night and extremely tired of this heat, but we're still having a fabulous time. I'm glad we could add Roman history to our French adventure!
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