A busy weekend

On Saturday I went out for my second bike ride, this time all cycling, no trains. I went east of Avignon this time, passing by St. Saturnin les Avignon, Pernes la Fontaine, L'Isle sur Sorgue, Fontaine de Vaucluse and then back to Avignon. The I used viamichelin.com, which is just like mapquest, to figure my distance traveled-- 83km which is about 50 miles. It goes by fast when you are looking at interesting things and following the signs CAREFULLY so as not to get lost. At Pernes I happened on a Saturday market where I sampled nougat and proscuitto-like ham from Spain. In L'Isle I had an unremarkable lunch next to the astounding 10 block long canal which is just beautiful. I went to Fontiane and was surprised and delighted that the whole 4km ride was on a road completely shaded by plane trees...once I got there I figured out why. The place has been occupied forever because of the abundant water that comes from the 'source' under the Vaucluse mountains. The river winds all thru the town... just beautiful, despite the tourists. I promptly found a green shady spot next to the running water in a park and took a nap!

On Sunday I took the train with my bike to Nimes, to see the some well preserved Roman architecture-- the Arena and the Square House. Both of these attractions were really well organized -- Arena had a portable tour guide that was like a cell phone --- even had sound effects of screaming crowds!! At the other place there was an IMAX like film and 3-D glasses--- some of the scenes were flights over the whole area around Nimes, notably the bridge at Pont du Gard which I visited last weekend. The bike allowed me to get around the town quickly and I had lunch in a park....not just any park...it was called Les Fontaines; leading up to it was a long canal on a street shaded by plane trees. There were fountains galore, but I was kind of suprised to see that there were not gardens. Lunch was a local specialty: La Brandade de Morue. Salt Cod in a casserole. It was great; I never tasted anything like it. A layer of mashed potatoes, then a layer of the fish pulverized with cream, then a light layer of cheese, browned slightly.

No rain here, and nobody is worried. Apparently all the water comes from underground springs.. remember Manon of the Sources and Jean de la Florette? That's what they're all about.

Friday night I saw L'Hymnus, a play presented by Roumanians in French. Last night I went over to the Palace des Papes to see about getting into the real keynote play in the 'IN' theater (my first IN) altho I did not have a ticket. I stood around holding a small sign 'Cherche 1 place pour Feullets d'Hypnos' and had one in about 20 min. Rene Char is the poet who wrote all of the short peices that the Artistic Director of IN put together into this play. I wouldn't really call it a play, as they just read the pieces, in a very modern decor. I think this author is well-loved by the french, but sorry, I didn't get much out of it, except perhaps it awakened some curiousity in me about his work.

More next time!