Day 8 - Avignon, France to Talloires, France

 

As we woke up there were two important things to do this morning. Have a good breakfast and walk inside the walls of Avignon and visit the different sites.

Avignon (City of the Popes) is one of the major cities of Provence. It is the main city in Vaucluse. Avignon is famous as it is the city to which the Popes fled when leaving the corruption of Rome in the 14th century. Its early history is much older than the popes, however. Avignon occupies a strategic location for several reasons - it is at the confluence of two once-mighty rivers: the Rhône, still one of the biggest rivers in France, and the now largely-dammed Durance. Both were important routes of trade and communication even in prehistoric times.

It is estimated that about 200,000 people live in Avignon, 16,000 of which live 'intra-muros,' or within the ramparts built in the 14th century.

The area inside the walls is quite large and took us a good 20 minutes to walk from hotel (just outside the walls) to the Palais des Papes. The streets were quite empty and so were the restaurants. In general we have not met any major crowded places as school started on September 4 in France.

The city is now sprinkled with buildings and monuments ranging from the new to the old, the very old, and the ageless. The most well known is 'Le Palais des Papes,' or the palace of popes, which is the world's largest Gothic edifice. Paula still went to find out how long it would take to tour. The 90 minutes was way longer than what we had available in our schedule so we gave it a miss and bought some souvenirs and made our way back to hotel.

Seven Popes (which I learned is the Bishop of Rome but does not need to reside there) resided in Avignon between 1309 and 1377.

While we were looking for postcards, I found a figurine of an horse that had a very similar color to my GSA. I really loved the look and stance of the horse so I bought and as soon as we got back to hotel I put it on the nose part of the GSA. For me it signifies the attitude of Total Readiness for anything that the road (life) may throw at you (in Portuguese ... Pronta para o que der e vier). I fully live in this way as I have found it is better to be ready to adapt to what life brings than to spend too much time planning for a life that may never be the one you plan for.

One of my favorite quotes is Charles Darwin's: "It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change."

Before we left Avignon we rode around the perimeter of the wall (on the outside) and went to see the Bridge of Avignon (Pont d'Avignon). The story goes that

"In 1177, a young shepherd named Bénézet came down from the mountains of the Ardèche. He said he was sent by God to build a bridge in Avignon.

At first, people took him for a madman, but he had heard a voice from heaven telling him : "Bénézet, take your crook and go to Avignon, the capital by the water : you will speak to the inhabitants and you will tell them that a bridge must be built".

One Sunday holiday, while the bishop of Avignon gave his blessing on the square in front of Notre-Dame, Bénézet called to him : "Lord Bishop, I have been commissioned by the Almighty to build a bridge across the Rhône"...

Mocked by the Avignonnais, the shepherd was challenged by the prelate to take an enormous stone on his shoulders and throw it into the Rhône. Bénézet doesn't hesitate an instant, and watched by the amazed crowd, picked up the stone block and threw it into the water, helped, they say, by divine intervention, and even by angels bathed in golden light.

This beautiful legend of Saint Bénézet was passed down through popular beliefs, for the building of the bridge represented a challenge against the elements. The Saint Bénézet bridge is the oldest work constructed on the Rhône, between Lyon and the sea, in the 12th century."

I just love this story as it encapsulates the "power of human belief" and "can do attitude". Today as you read this, think about last time you did something "amazing" and challenge yourself to do something else "amazing" today or in the very near future. You will not be sorry ...

And in case you want a bit of music to accompany your decision here is a very well known "nursery-rhyme" type song called Sur le Pont d'Avignon.

Interestingly The Avignonnais, in fact, did not dance on the bridge, its narrowness not permitting either farandoles or sarabandes ...

After Avignon we started our trip up North towards Annecy, France. The road is fantastic and so are the views.

As we were doing good time when we were about 30 minutes from Grenoble, France we decided to take a detour and visit L'Alpe D'Huez ;-)).

L'Alpe D'Huez (1,860m) is one of the main mountains in the Tour de France. The climb is 13.8 km at an average 7.9 per cent, with 21 hairpin bends. It is very difficult to explain how it is to climb this mountain. Speaking to a number of people that have done it by bicycle, every one of them as they explain their experience, shift their eyes a bit as they look back and remember, usually a smile appears on their lips and their whole facial expression changes and you know this is an experience they will never forget. For us the climb was much easier, but we will have the same reaction. The 21 numbered and named after previous winners, hairpin bends are unforgettable, the views as you go around them and look towards the horizon are phenomenal.

Although surrounded by controversy due to distances, the three fastest times of climbing L'Alpe D'Huez belong to the Italian climber Marco Pantani (1970-2014), 'Il Pirata, widely considered one of the best climbers ever. RIP Marco ....

The veteran reporter, Jacques Augendre, said:

"The Tourmalet, the Galibier and the Izoard were the mythical mountains of the race. These three cols were supplanted by the Alpe d'Huez. Why? Because it's the col of modernity."

There is also a very nice little village right up where cyclists finish and we were able to have our late lunch take some pictures and just enjoy the whole experience. If you are ever in France, put it in your agenda.

The whole way down was even more impressive from a picture point of view as somehow the views looked even better and there was more time to choose the best shots.

As we arrived at the bottom of the Col, I put the address of the hotel we would stay that night and the GPS planned for us a trip back through the mountains. I am still not sure why it chose that way but it turned to be amazing route (although Paula did not enjoy it so much because there were hundreds of curves up and down mountains).

The most impressive was the Col du Glandon (1,924m) which is only open between June and October. It is easy to understand why as it got the coldest so far we have experienced in this trip as there was already snow on the mountain. I also found the descend of this Col the most tricky as hairpins are very tight and road is very narrow and yes on the side there are tall precipices. I was glad the GSA and I and the miniatuare horse were in a Total Readiness state ;-).

We also saw how a football field can be used in a different way. It looked like that they had enough players for a good game ;-).

For the evening we stayed in village of Talloires, France. We chose it as ex-colleague of mine (Didier) lives in the area and highly recommended it. Merci Beaucoup Didier and Damien (also ex-colleague that was born in Annecy) as it was a great place to stop. Its mountainous landscapes and picturesque setting on Lake Annecy, medieval architecture, charming character, sports and activities, have created a small but vibrant village. The Tour De France has been staged here on several occasions. Consisting of a time trial stage around the Lake.

The village of Talloires is 13 km (8.1 mi) away from Annecy, a larger city and major tourist destination which we would visit the next day.

For the evening we would stay in a Logis hotel. Logis is a chain of independently-owned hotels that are usually picturesque, in great places, prices are very affordable and usually have a restaurant with local chef which ensure food is of high quality. If you are ever in France and want to have a good evening experience stay in Logis branded hotel. You will not be disappointed.

It turned out that there were two Portuguese people that worked in hotel (Elsa and Manuel) and one of them was the maitre d, so we were treated very well and had there one of the best meals in our trip. Paula had salmon and I had a steak which was very good. The white wine was very good and we ended the meal with an interesting green concoction offered by Manuel which had enough alcohol to knock out a bull. It did a good job for me too ;-).

 

Click HERE for all the pictures of Day 8

 

Posted by Armando