Avignon day 2

How good to wake up, pull back the blind in the roof above our heads and see waving green branches against a vivid blue sky. Still cold though! But what a fantastic day we have had in Avignon - it was extremely windy on le pont, but it didn't stop us listening to all the commentary on our hand-sets taking us right out to the end in mid-stream. We discovered the origins of 'Sur le pont .....' and that the dancing was more likely to have been 'sous le pont', ie under the bridge because it originally spanned 22 arches across the Rhone with lots of little islands in the middle. Now there is one long island, l'Ile de la Barthelasse and there are only 4 arches of the bridge left. Then went to the Palais des Papes and again had the audio commentary telling us all the history of the building and various popes through the ages. We even had a hot drink at the terrace cafe on top of one of the towers! After all that walking and stair-climbing we were ready for our poulet and frites at a pavement restaurant in Place de l'horloge. Then it was back on our bikes to cross both parts of the river to explore Villeneuve lez Avignon - along a very pretty canal and then to climb through the ancient streets to search for a geocache high on a hill in a small park with fantastic views across to Avignon. Quite an energetic day - most enjoyable.