Little Toyota rental car from Europcar
The Musée de Bonbon (aka Haribo candy museum) is something that Lana wants to see. Haribo is of Gummi Bears fame.
At the entrance - Lana excited
Boutique at the conclusion of the 'museum'
We learn about the manufacturing process of Haribo candies and chocolates. On our way there, the GPS gives us wrong directions at the same intersection.... grrrr....Takes about 1 hour and 15 minutes travelling west. Huge parking lots beside a modern building in a very small town. Four levels and we do learn a lot about the history of Haribo candies. Much of this is interactive for kids and adults. Stairwells to the different areas of the tour. Tokens to be redeemed for free candies - get in the queue though. In the boutique, Lana can't find her favourite Haribo candy -> Rado-Mix. :-(
I am looking forward to our next destination which is Pont du Gare. This is a World Heritage Site and known for the tallest Aqueduct in the ancient Roman world built about 2,000 years ago to carry water to distant Nîmes 50 kms away. The aqueduct span is only one part of the water to Nîmes, but pretty dramatic. This stone colossus is set above the river canyon with trees on both sides. You don't pay for any of the exhibits, but you do pay for parking given it is such a remote location. Lots of families taking picnics and swimming in the river below. The parking lot is gigantic. Super hot day in the early afternoon. It is quite a walk from the entry area to the Pont du Gare. We did grab something to eat in the restaurant near the entrance. There is a multi-media museum that provides an excellent history and background to the Roman construction of Pont du Gare. Plus, lots of info on Roman living and how important water was to the Roman lifestyle and the fact that richer Romans obtained more water access. The aqueduct to Nîmes was mostly underground. We found a couple of great vantage points for pictures. Plus, took the tunnel which connected the ancient pipe to the aqueduct over the river. Incredible ancient project and expensive. Spent a couple of hours and on our way back to the car rewarded ourselves with a two scoop gelato.
You can see the sheer size/scale
Picture from opposite side of the river
This was where the water would flow
Tunnel to the aqueduct from the source
Next destination is driving east to Avignon. We parked near the south entrance to this old walled city near Cours Jaures R. De La Republique. Near their train station. We have a good guide book and just walk into this old section of Avignon. An intriguing historical fact to Avignon from 1309 - 1403 was the temporary residence of the Catholic Popes and hosted two anti-Popes as well. Took a quiet village into a thriving city. This is a large city by Provence standards. Very neat and tidy though. Lots of fellow tourists and minimal cars in the area. First stop was the famous St. Bénezet Bridge (Pont St. Bénezet) originally built in the 1100s to span the Rhone River. Damaged and rebuilt many times since. There is a Romanesque chapel on the bridge as you can see below.
Next a short walk uphill to the Palais des Papes (Palace of the Popes). We decided not to pay the steep admission price. We did go into the church which was quite plain given it was the church the popes would use.
The Jardin du Rocher des Doms (gardens) is above the city and is beautiful with great views of the surrounding city and the river below. Worth the steep walk uphill. Nice pond and tons of cool things for children to play with.
Pond in the park with eating area across. Ducks and coi fish.
The walls to the city are very high and very wide. PARKING LOT HELL: We need to be finished before two hours as our parking ticket will expire. We get back to our car with enough time and take our parking chit to the ticket machine to pay. We can't use the cash machine as our smallest bill is 20 Euro. The cost of parking is 3.60 Euro. We use the credit card dispenser which proceeds to 'eat' our parking card and gives us a receipt with no barcode. We try to exit, but the gate will not open and the machine spits out the receipt onto the pavement. The gate won't open and it is the ONLY way out. Nobody from the parking lot company is in the small office! How do we get outta here? Lana walks to the nearby Ibis Hotel, but they advise they don't control the parking lot. The parking fellow has finally returned, but speaks no english and isn't in a good mood. He gestures for us to try and exit again, but same results. That friggin card won't work. He finally opens the dispenser machine and retrieves our original ticket. It looks like when we were loading our credit card the machine was re-booting. Yup, now the machine works, accepts our credit card and provides our original ticket back as verified. Voila, the gate opens! Hooray! Parking lot from Hell!
Next stop is an Avignon gas station. The adventure is not over.... Hmmm, there is no place for a credit card or cash at the pump. Need to go inside and the clerk speaks a little english, but fortunately the customer behind me does interpret. She keeps my visa card and we fill up with 25 litres of gas at 1.56 Euro per litre. Card given back with the explanation that in Avignon that is just the way it is. By this time, we are both frazzled so when we arrive back to Le Mas de Grès we head to the swimming pool. Sunny, but the usual Mistral wind from the north. Good to relax and refresh. Lana still jet lagged and naps for about an hour while I update our travel diary and shower.
Down to dinner about 7:50 and Francois tells us about the Sunday market. We see the Belgian couple and give their two small daughters much of our Haribo candies. They tell us about a wine festival in Beaumes de Venise that features Muscat wine tasting! We have a delicious Muscat aperitif at dinner and loved it. The salad tonight is simple but tasty and healthy. Lightly steamed vegetables, covered in a a good olive oil and excellent parmesan cheese with the usual salt crystals. A nice Rosé wine with dinner. Entrée is sliced duck breast, fig sauce, balsamic vinegar and homemade pasta. Delicious, yet the duck breast tastes different here. A small dish of roasted figs came shortly after. Port sauce with the figs. French cuisine and sauces = voila! The small scale desserts were delicious and as usual we were full by 10:15 pm conclusion.
PS> my Turin World Master Games soccer team won GOLD tonight! Quite an accomplishment and I feel bad I couldn't be there. Hopefully, they will have a medal for me when I return to Vancouver.
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