Ah, Avignon. I had little familiarity with the city prior to arriving and exploring aside from knowing its prevalence of medieval buildings makes it a prime tourist attraction. And tourist attraction it is, especially within the inner walls. Don’t get me wrong – Avignon is gorgeous and we had an incredible time here. I just kept wondering how locals live and where they go in Avignon as most people appeared to be tourists.
My Avignon hit list includes:
1. Medieval Buildings & Winding Roads: My favorite aspect of Avignon was the well-preserved medieval buildings. Simply astonishing! 
2. Lavender ice cream: Based on a highly favourable recommendation, Ian and I went out to a lovely dinner at Le Cour Du Louvre on our last night in Avignon. Our prix fixe meal – including scallops and shrimp – was amazing and to top it off I tried lavender ice cream as part of dessert. I didn’t even know it existed and was extremely disappointed to learn it was readily available at the ice cream shop across the street and I had yet to induldge. Sadly, we were leaving the following morning and didn’t have a chance to return for more floral ice cream goodness.
I’m continuing my hunt for lavender ice cream in Montpellier, but have not had any luck. We’ve now left the Provence region, which is well known for its lavender fields, and I’m pretty doubtful I’ll have any luck here…
3. Place Pie: A large square just off the main tourist drag adjacent to Avignon’s indoor market. We found a favourite spot and went daily for du cafe american in the morning and beer in the afternoon. On Tuesday, the square filled with flea market vendors and at other times kids took over the space to kick around a soccer ball.
Other attractions:
4. Palais des Papes: We took the self-guided tour of the Palais des Papes, one of the largest self-prophesed medieval and gothic buildings in Europe. It was a palace, which I was eager to see, constructed in the 13th century. However we opted to decline the audio tours…which was a mistake as there was fairly little context provided for the exhibition. While I might say that the tour itself was somewhat underwhelming as most space was barren – we were left to imagine what the space once looked like – several rooms contained painted ceilings from the 14th century which were in remarkably great condition.
5. Villeneuve Les Avignon: Our Airbnb host recommended we cross the Rhone to see Villeneuve-les-Avignon, essentially a small village on the outskirts of Avignon. It’s home to Fort Saint-Andre, a medieval fortress also dating from the 14th century. Again, there was relatively little offered in terms of actual exhibits or context at the Fort, however it offered spectacular views over Avignon and surrounding area. We also had a great time walking along the fort’s walls. There was also an adjacent garden, les Jardins de l’abbaye Saint-Andre, and while they offered a great view of Avignon, the jardins themselves were not yet fully in bloom.
In total, we spent two and a half days in Avignon and four nights, with a third day spent in nearby Marseilles (approx 70 minute train ride) to the South. While frequently regarded as a city to be avoided given its industrial heritage and higher crime rates, Ian and I had a favourable time. More about our ignorant tourist adventures in Marseilles to come!
Jenn's Thoughts 