Saturday pre-boarding

We checked out of the apartment at 10am and headed down to the river to drop off our luggage on the barge. It was an easy walk down to the Quai and we met a group that was just finishing their trip. They had only good things to report and said we were very lucky to have Micky as our tour leader. We also met Fabrice, our Captain, who was very friendly and welcoming and took care of our luggage.

We headed back into town and on the way passed a lovely local market. When we got back to our neighbourhood we found the big market in full swing and people everywhere. We stopped at our local cafe for a coffee and a bit of people watching. Katie decided to stay and have a second coffee as Ian and I planned to return to Les Halles to check out many of the stalls within. The market was very crowded but there was a lovely vibe. We wandered around taking in the smells and colours of all the produce. We bought some more salted almonds to take on the barge trip and we bought the most beautiful slice of tart each, Ian apricot and peach for me.

We then left the market crowd and started wandering up and down the lovely little streets of Avignon, looking for a place to sit and eat our tarts. We found a place with some seats under a tree so we settled in there to eat our little treats, which were very bloody good. We then wandered around a bit more and I bought a little ceramic bird whistle called a Piaf and a blue suede bag.

We then met up with Katie and had lunch at a lovely cafe in Place Pie. After lunch we headed to the Rocher des Doms to walk through the gardens and get some nice views up and down the river. It was getting quite warm and so we headed back down to Place de L’horloge where we found a cafe to have some ice cream and a coffee.

By the time we finished our ice cream it was time to make our way down to the Caprice and meet our fellow travellers.Read more