Avignon

Day 7
Day 7 was another road trip day. We checked out of Chateau de Rochecotte bright and early to make the long drive to Avignon. We managed not to get lost this time, but thanks to the new map we purchased, we mistakenly chose the "scenic route". The scenery was definitely beautiful, but it took us the entire day to get there. It's too bad that we were concerned about meeting the person that was to let us into our apartment, because we didn't get to enjoy the sights like we could have. The roads we took passed through town after town, with gorgeous mountains and cliffs running alongside the roads. I've never seen anything like it. Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures, and my description can never do it justice.

We did arrive in Avignon a little late, but someone was still there to meet us. She let us in to the apartment and took us on a tour. The apartment was lovely and had a gorgeous patio.



The apartment manager was an ex-pat, who had moved to Avignon with her husband about 10 years ago. She was really sweet and tried to make us feel really at home, despite the fact that she alluded to her dislike of Avignon several times in our conversation. She also warned us of mosquitos at night, and suggested that we keep our windows closed. We scoffed. "We're from Texas," we said. "We know mosquitos."

After she left and we dragged our luggage up the stairs, Mamar and I left to find a parking spot. Avignon is a village that dates back to medieval times and has the city walls and architecture to prove it. The streets are lined with old buildings and barely wide enough for cars to pass. Intersections are at right angles, and Mamar had a heck of a time making turns, since our Citroen had the turning radius of a bus. We drove around for quite some time before we decided that it was worth the 10 Euros/day to park in the urine-scented parking garage downtown.

On our trip back to the apartment, we saw some of the sights of Avignon. It was not exactly what we had in mind.



The city was dirty. Full of graffiti. The streets seemed dangerous, and Avery and Caroline were nervous to be out. After exploring a little more, we returned to our apartment, feeling discouraged. We ate some dinner and tried to relax. It was hot, probably in the low 90s. There was no air conditioning in our apartment, so we left the windows open to get the breeze. We learned that the mosquitoes in France are not the same as the mosquitoes in Texas. They found me particularly tasty, and over the course of the next 24 hours, I managed to get 36 mosquito bites. (Linah counted them for me.) They were excruciating mosquito bites; far more painful and exponentially larger than bites left by our friendly Texas mosquitoes. I had them all over my arms, chest, back, and my favorite: my forehead. They took over a week to heal, so for the rest of the trip, I had huge welts on my face.

This was the last straw. After about 30 seconds of discussion, during which I scratched incessantly and Avery and Linah swore they'd never leave the apartment again, we decided to abandon the armpit that is Avignon. Mamar got on the phone with Expedia and made arrangements for us to go early to Monaco, cost be damned. We hastily packed our bags, slept for a few hours, then hit the road first thing in the morning.