Day 12 - Provence - 03.06.2013

We woke up at 7am. After preparing ourselves and Benji, we left our hotel at about 8am to head towards Europcar (near Avignon TGV) to return our rented car. The drive was only about 10min.

After the car was returned, we took a bus which took us to the city centre of Avignon. Thereafter, after we alighted, we walked about 15min back to the hotel for our breakfast.

Breakfast was really enjoyable. Our fellow Singaporean friends, whom we got to know yesterday, helped us to babysit Benji while Emma and I had breakfast. Plus, the environment was very cosy and homely; it made us feel like we could spend the entire morning at the breakfast table. There was a piano in the hotel which I played on it as well; it kinda provided "free" entertainment to the hotel guests which I didn't mind at all for I was in the mood to play.

After breakfast was done, we walked to the city centre of Avignon. Our first stop was the Tourist Centre where we gathered information of the attractions that could be found. We were introduced by the kind lady at the counter that we could take various walking tours. Due to time constraint, we chose two out of four possible walking tours.

The first walking tour - Orange tour - took us to the Popes' Palace Square and the Palace of the Popes. Some buskers serenaded at the area with classical guitar while others with accordion. The music indeed livened up the whole atmosphere. We continued our walk to the Saint-Benezet bridge. It was a half broken bridge, damaged several times by the floods of the Rhone river. On the bridge, it was the ideal place for photo-taking. We took several pictures on it which had the long and wide Rhone river as our backdrop.

We stopped by for lunch at 46 Bistro Bar A Vin. It was a Michelin-recommended restaurant and the food was very reasonable considering the price that we paid.

We then took the second walking tour - Green tour. It was supposed to be a stroll in the old streets with Teinturiers street being highly recommended by the lady at the Tourist Centre. However, many shops were closed and there wasn't anything much to see. We were just aimlessly walking along the streets and then decided to walk back to the city centre where the atmosphere felt more lively.

We stopped by Lou Mistrau for coffee. It was a necessary break for us to have some drinks to quench our thirst and to rest our tired legs.

After that, we saw a carousel nearby and on spontaneity, I decided to take Benji for his first ride. The ride was about 3min and priced at Eur 2 and so I thought, "Why not?" It was fun and throughout the ride, he was just observing and probably wondering what was going on around him. Haha. Well, I hoped he had enjoyed himself.

We then went in search for some nice place for dinner. After about an hour and half of searching, we realised that most of the restaurants were either closed or they were fully booked. We learnt on enquiry that most places were closed on Sundays and Mondays, particularly this period where the locals considered it a low season. From all the hours of walking, I really felt like my legs were almost breaking.

We finally chanced upon Restaurant Naka - a restaurant that served Japanese cuisine. I was so relieved that we managed to find a place to have at least a proper meal. I had Ebi Tempura Udon and Chawanmushi and they totally satisfied my Asian palate.

At about 8pm after dinner, we headed back to the hotel. We were just winding down, settling the baby and Emma was also doing some research of how to get to our next destination tomorrow.

Provence has been an interesting place for me. It was a place I'd never imagine existed. Its indigenity - passionate lovers, young and old, just French-kissed at various corners of the streets in the literal sense - and some of its scenic views were what I appreciated the most. If we had come in July, we were told that it would have been more beautiful with all the lavenders in sight almost everywhere. But, for all the places that we had visited in Provence, I must say that I had thoroughly enjoyed myself because to me, any places that we've visited, would add to the experiences and memories for our family that could never be taken away.