We began the day with a walk along the main street to buy bread at the boulangerie. Despite being 7c, I still walk in shorts, but not the purple ones that set the tongues going in Chablis all those years ago. Provided by upper body and head are well covered, I don't seem to feel the cold in my legs, and the French deserve to see my legs!!!!

As it's so overcast and drizzly, all the photographs look rather bleak. Actually the fact that the stone used to build the houses is a creamy grey also doesn't help.

We start the day with the TV news. As usual, we watch the images and make up the news story. Looks like elections coming up soon and Paris is introducing driving restrictions with number plates and type of service vehicles restricted to alternate days as pollution is a major problem. The weather is easier to interpret, cold and wet.

We decided to visit Avignon in the afternoon and Ches planned the rest of the week. This means she can control the pace of the week, rather than let me try to cram everything in to the 5 days.

Thank god for Tom. There must be 30 roundabouts between here and Avignon (take the third exit), and the mass of roads outside the walls would have been in-penetrable. Apparently the road death toll in France is around 3,500 per year, and its easy to understand why. We were tailgated at 110 on a 90 section of road and then overtaken on a bend and he had to be traveling at 140.

Tom took us in through Port de la Republique into the main street and there was a kerbside parking spot just a couple of hundred meters in. Despite the weather, there were quite a few tourists, so getting an easy park was a bonus.

I had declared that I wouldn't be buying any shoes or shirts on this trip. I now have two new shirt, purchased just 200 meters from where we parked the car. This is not a good sign. I'll have to drink the 500 gms of coffee I brought from home to get them home under the luggage allowance.

We walked some of the back streets around the main square and then decided to have a tea and pastry while checking the guidebook to orient ourselves. Given the weather, we decided to limit ourselves to walking up past the Palais des Papes and Notre-Dame des Domes (the cathedral) to the Rocher des Domes (the gardens). We were struggling to keep the umbrellas from blowing inside out, and it became even more difficult for Ches to hold one over me while I tried to photograph. We managed some bleak shots of the famous Pont St Benedict, that's the one only half way across the Rhone River, and the castles on the other side.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJKfxtY At0s

Ches tells me there wan't any dancing on or under the bridge as it was the haunt of prostitutes and pickpockets.

As we walked back toward the town square, there is a lane down beside the Palais des Papes. Seated at a bend in the lane was a chap playing an accordion; very French. I decided to use the movie function of our new camera. In the best tradition of my father, I filmed with the lens cap on.

It was now late afternoon, so we decided to head for home. Tom let us down ... kinda. He instructed us to bear right when it should have been left, which I observed in traffic that was moving to fast to cut across. From this point on, he wasn't entirely to blame as despite the fact that we had only just bought the TomTom France maps, there are sections of new roads and car parks that obviously aren't included and Tom didn't have a clue. No more than 5 minutes of swearing did the trick and we found ourselves swinging past the turnoff missed the first time. Not the second time.

Back home, the closer it came to dinner time, Ches became less inclined to cook. We decided on the seafood restaurant next door to Cafe de Fontaine, which is owned by the same people.

We were seated in leather club chairs and waited on by a young guy with limited English but the determination to help us decipher the extensive menu. He really had patience as Ches tried to explain the menu to me. Like Chinese whispers.

Eventually we decided upon sharing a platter of shellfish; oysters from two regions, mussels,
clams, prawns and sea snails. Served on a massive bowl of salt, we observed that with the Camargue only 15 km away, there is no shortage of salt. Everything was fresh and still had the tang of seawater.

For mains, Ches had duo of prawns and scallops. Actually, make that singular "prawn". The biggest prawn we have ever seen, half way to the size of a lobster. Delicious but not a rave from Ches. The waiter was adamant that Ches have the French Fries. We realised later that in reviews we had read, they made a point about how bad the french fries were. They are still overcooked and soggy.

I had the fish soup. I guess this is halfway toward a "Bouillabaisse". Two types of firm fleshed fish, mussels, potato, fennel and a prawn. Wonderful!

Given the bread rolls and sliced bread served with every dish, we now know how this town supports 3 Boulangerie.

Ches just interrupted the journal to ask if I wanted cheese in my baguette with the pate. This is Brie de Meaux. $$60-70.00 a kilo at home and $20.00 here. No thank you, I'll have the cheese unadulterated please.

When we finished eating, the couple at the adjoining table introduced themselves as Germans who have a holiday house in Paradou. The sign announcing that you are leaving Maussane is beside the one welcoming you to Paradou. I guess the two villages have all but merged. Maybe one postcode is more revered than the other.

This couple are retired and live in the Black Forest in Germany. They had just returned from two months diving holiday in Thailand and Malaysia. They had also been to Laos and Vietnam but wouldn't drive there. I wouldn't drive anywhere in asia, so we were in awe.

We walked home and were asleep by 10.00.