7. Avignon with Gaye and Daryl

Venasque Hotel
see all photos »

Depart Lyon - two hour drive to Avignon - lunch at Carpentras - quaint little village - on to Venasque. Venasque is a tiny but beautiful village with lots of history.

Declined kind offer to stay with Gaye and Daryl - turned out to be a good decision.....too many narrow spiral stairs and not enough hot water. But found a very cute little hotel almost next door - perched on edge of the cliff with expansive valley views, charming ambiance. Our bedroom is attic-style - watch your head! Village steets are ideal for mini cars, not suited to anything bigger than perhaps a Corolla. Daryl learnt this the hard way.....some scapes on his rental car, a nice new 'people mover' sized car..... We've managed to avoid similar events so far, but some very close calls!!

Chill out in Venasque

Clare visiting Gaye's hotel
see all photos »

Dinner with Gaye and Daryl in their apartment - Daryl managed to put together a pretty impressive feast under somewhat limited cooking facilities. As always his cooking skills are much appreciated. Great to have a 'home-cooked' meal for a change. Accompanied by some very nice french wine of course. Negotiating those spiral stairs on the way out seemed harder than on the way in......

Breakfast on our balcony - amazing view - unless you're afraid of heights.

Paul drives the four of us today - firstly to the local shopping centre - Iles de la Sourges - Intermarche - some groovy gear for Paul as he's run out of clothes. He obeyed those many friends who recommended we travel light. Trouble is he doesn't like washing the few clothes he has... Gaye eats a cake soaked in rum for morning tea and behaves badly.

Looking for Lunch in Lacoste
see all photos »

Drive onto St Remy for coffee and the markets. The cappicinos aren't getting any better!! Onto Arles - Roman ruins and amphitheatre. A little more shopping - tablecloth typical of Provence for Clare and CD for Paul. Clare and Gaye negotiate high mound of soil to get photo of poppies - seemed absolutely essential at the time. Both Clare and Gaye behaving badly now!

Pre-dinner drinks in our room tonite with Gaye and Daryl, then dinner in one of the three restaurants in town - pretty good too, followed by Calvados (apple brandy) , appreciated by some more than others....

Poppy field
see all photos »

Daryl drives today - we're all a bit nervous due to his recent difficulties negotiating narrow streets, however no major mishaps today. We visit Apt and Lacoste, pretty little villages, but some difficulties finding suitable lunch spot which of course seems very important at the time. Why is it that we always see great places to eat at the wrong times? Daryl cooks us another fabulous meal tonite - lamb cutlets.

Our last breakfast with those incredible views, and we leave Venasque for Marseilles. Gaye and Daryl chose a much more sensible way to tour Italy - a bus tour. Clare and Paul on the other hand must learn the hard way - campervan. We hope to meet up with Gaye and Daryl during our trip through Italy.