Wednesday, July 3, 2024 – Day 5: Two Paths – Lyon to Avignon, back to Lyon

Today’s post needed to be written by Karen Hammond. You will see why in the day’s events.

The morning in Lyon was spent going in two different directions. We decided to divide and conquer. Kelsey & Karen rented bikes and went on a brisk bike ride to see one last sight before leaving Lyon. They rode on a great bike path along the river to the confluence – the point where the Rhône and Shoane Rivers meet. The time available for this trip was tight with just enough time to stop, take some photos of the Museum of the Confluence, and return to the hotel to make the train to Avignon. The museum, being a very contemporary building, anchors a part of Lyon with lots of modern architecture. The museum is controversial since the style contrasts with the gothic architecture throughout Lyon.

While Kelsey & Karen were off on their adventure, Greg & Lindsey enjoyed a more leisurely morning with their favorite iced chai latte and a pastry from a local patisserie. What time was left, they wandered a bit through some shops and picked up madeleines for the next leg of our trip.

Both teams were successful, meeting up at the hotel before quickly whisking off to catch a train for the 90 minute ride to Avignon. Our next stay was an AirBnB apartment just a 10 minute walk from the train station. Despite our lack of French we were able to communicate with the host who was able to show us the spacious apartment with an interesting layout (3 bedrooms, 2 showers, 1 toilet). Travelling further South we noticed a big change in temperature and were happy for the air conditioner that almost cooled the apartment.

Immediately after arriving Greg (THANK GOODNESS!) realized we left our passports in the room safe in Lyon! We decided the best plan would be for Greg to get our rental car early (fortunately we had booked one that was to be picked up later that evening) and drive the 2½ hours back to Lyon to retrieve the passports. Lindsey volunteered to be his copilot, and the two of them set out to learn about driving highways in France. Fortunately it was a relatively easy trip and they were able to retrieve the passports and get back to Avignon before midnight. Greg definitely earned MVP status for this one (Lindsey close runner up for keeping the driver company while updating the radio station frequently).

Meanwhile Kelsey & Karen started to explore Avignon. Our apartment was a 15 minute walk to the old walled city. The first thing we noticed were signs for the “Festival Avignon” and LOTS of people. It turns out we arrived on the first day of a 3 week arts festival. Every surface in the city was covered in posters advertising performances, and at every turn someone walked up to you trying to give you a postcard about a show. We quickly learned that saying “No, merci” let folks know we didn’t speak French. We avoided most pitches except for one performer who insisted we’d love the “no words show about three clowns who wish they were in Scotland.”

Our first stop in the old city was a tour of Palais des Papes (a huge gothic palace that was the home to the Popes in the 14th century). We then walked around the Jardin de Doms, a lovely park that overlooks the city and the Rhone River. Later we went into the city and watched several street performers and had dinner and ice cream in one of the town squares. We walked back to the apartment in time to make a plan for the next day and greeted Greg and Lindsey when thl returned from their “adventure.” Hammond family traveling always seems to include a little “hiccup.” We were glad to get it out of the way toward the beginning of our trip.