Avignon - last pictures

While in Avignon we also went visiting Arles

and Saint-Rémy de Provence, the two places Vincent Van Gogh stayed for some time :

I will end with the statue of Vincent Van Gogh.

"The goal of life is living in agreement with nature. "
Zeno

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Nathalie

Done

I completely finished my flower.
The name is added on the back and the binding has been sewn.
I added some colours in the embroidered/quilted letters so that they pop a little.

Now, I will continue my other -almost finished- project : I have to add some more quilting on ‘Frioel II’ and then, that one will be finished also.

I know, I told, I wanted to finish before leaving for Avignon, but I didn’t have enough hours in my day.

My next project ?

I will work on another UFO :

This is a work I started –as second project – after a workshop from Dena Crain, called ‘Structured Fabrics’ , several years ago.

It’s time to make something of this and play with it.
I do not know where this piece will lead me. We will see.
Working with an UFO can be freeing !
Since it became an UFO, it means that I wasn’t fully satisfied of the results.

Thus I can use the piece as background for something new.

“Everything that is really great and inspiring is created by the individual who can labor in freedom.”
Albert Einstein

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Nathalie

Avignon –day 2

We like to start our day with a nice extended ‘petit déjeuner’ : expresso, croissants, baguette, brie, confiture and fresh fruit.
Now we’re ready to go for a 3-hours walk with our guide.

She will explain us the city from 1309 to nowadays.

You certainly can imagine that 3 hours are not enough to tell you the rich history of Avignon. If you are interested, follow this link.

and this link.

The main event is certainly the ‘Festival d’Avignon’ in July.
We walked in the city with our guide till almost 14.00 hours.

We had to hurry for our next appointment with another guide and a small group of Asian tourists : the Lavender road – ‘la route des lavandes’.

Near the lavender fields, there were cherry trees :

So sweet to eat.

We went to ‘l’abbaye de Sénanque” a Cistercian abbey built in the XII century and surrounder by lavender.

We had a little drive to have these fantastic views from the village of Gordes :

And then…

Our guide, looking for a farmer who would sell his products to our group,

took the wrong road and got lost ,

and no, the GPS doesn’t work in the middle of nowhere !

The guide realized that we would have to go all the way up the Mont Ventoux and go down the other side. On the top of this mont, it was freezing !

My parents will never believe I was in that car. I was scared to death !
I hate high mountains – especially the depth, I get dizzy - and I always said to DH that a montain holiday was a reason for a ‘divorce’. I told that to our guide. Our guide answered that since he and I weren’t married, we couldn’t have a divorce. This made us all laugh and feel better.
We came back at our hotel 2 hours later than scheduled.

It was almost 22.00 when we enjoyed a fabulous diner :

‘The point of living and of being an optimist, is to be foolish enough to believe the best is yet to come.’
Peter Ustinov

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Nathalie

Avignon -day 1

We’re just back from Avignon.
The time we spend there was too short !
We were able to see only a fraction from what was offered.
After a 5 hours traveling with the TGV from Lille we arrived at 10.30 in Avignon.
Our hotel was easily found and there we had a first surprise !
The entrance :
The garden :

The hall to our room :

An outside view from our room :

Look what a superb room we ‘received’ :

We slept under the roof of the hotel, an ancient monastery, with a view on the roofs.

Since the weather was very hot and that the thunder wasn’t far we decided to visit the ‘Palais des Papes’. Inside those large old walls the temperature is just fine.

The pope came in Avignon in 1309 – just 700 years ago – because the situation in Rome wasn’t stable. He looked for a neutral place to stay. Since Avignon was a propriety from the king of Naples, he accepted the invitation to reside in Avignon – at that time – an Italian town – in the middle of France.

The ‘Palais des Papes’ the largest gothic palace in the world was built in less than 20 years (1335-1352) by Benoît XII and Clément VI ! - I couldn’t believe my eyes and ears.- and was both a powerful fortress and a magnificent palace. It was the seat of the Christian world in the 14th century. This monument, recognized as UNESCO World Heritage site, bears the mark of the nine popes who succeeded one another there, the most famous of whom were Benedict XII (Benoît XII) and Clément VI.

‘Le Palais des Papes’ is huge, we spend 4 hours visiting with an audio-guide.

After visiting the ‘Palais’ we went on the ‘Pont d’Avignon’ :

It’s real name is the ‘Pont Saint-Bénezet’ .

The bridge, built in the 12th century, was often damaged by the raging flood waters of the Rhone river, and during wars. Repaired and rebuilt again and again, it was abandoned in the 17th century.
The song ‘sur le pont d’Avignon’ made the bridge famous and unforgettable.

After a well filled day, we went eating in a little restaurant where art and food were mixed.

“Every man is guilty of all the good he didn't do.”
Voltaire

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Nathalie