Viviers to Avignon was to be our longest distance travelled
on the inland waterways other than the tide assisted leg from Hornfleur to
Rouen and given the heat, as well as the unpredictability of waiting time at
locks we had spent an extra day at Viviers to rest up. I set the alarm for 6am
to try to miss some of the heat of the day, however it was pitch black so we
had an extra ½ hour in bed and then eventually left at 10 past 7. In reality we
made really good progress, particularly as we went straight in to one lock
instead of waiting the normal 20 to 30 minutes.
As it was Saturday and also a really long days motoring we
let the kids have far too much electronics time but in reality the sun was so
hot we preferred them to be down below chilling out. Regardless, we were all on
deck as we approached Avignon and enjoyed looking at Pont Saint Bénézet
which was absolutely packed with tourists.
As we approached the quay we could see boats rafted 2 or 3 deep so did a
slow drive past and identified a large British motor cruiser as a possible host
before motoring on to check there was no space further upstream. Upstream was
one gap but given it had a no parking sign we opted to go and hail the British
boat. Despite Patrick calling out to them there was no response so we started
to motor off wondering what to do, spotting another yacht approaching obviously
wanting to moor too. Eventually as we
were considering the no parking spot we heard a whistle and turned to see a guy
on the British boat beckoning us over.
We went alongside and collapsed until the heat died down when we had a
meal and then set out on a little walk.
We didn’t really know where we were going but decided to
head for the Carrfour on the map so that we could get bread and ice cream, as
well as a cold drink. We then sauntered through the beautiful narrow streets of
Avignon, following a horse and cart, until Esmé and AJ spotted a carousel. Esmé chose an elephant to ride on and AJ
teamed up with some English Public School boys on a teacup which they spun so
fast I thought AJ might fall out.
A little further and we joined a growing crowd watching and
listening to a young girl busking in a square. We felt quite the poor relation
compared with the many holiday makers sat outside restaurants, but we had the
company of many more listeners sat on the steps that surrounded the
square. After a while we put some money
in her hat and moved on. It struck me that we give a lot more money to street
entertainers while travelling than we do at home. Rightly or wrongly they just
seem to get a handful of low value coins at home, where as when travelling we
tend to stop and appreciate them for far longer so feel the need to pay them
well for their performance.
Esmé had spotted a herd of people heading up a slope so we followed
them, had our bags checked and then walked up to a garden where there was going
to be free live music, and there were tents selling food and wine. It looked
like a lovely place to stay for a while as there was mellow warm up music being
played and the whole area was lit up beautifully, however the kids got tired
before the live music started so we made our way back to Laurin.
All in all a lovely evening for our short stay in Avignon, pity
about the restaurant opposite where live music was playing until 3am, and the
somewhat steep mooring charge for such a short stay where we didn’t even use
the water and electric.
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