Day 11 - Apt

Day 11—Wednesday, May 20, 1992

Slept till 9:00 a.m., and I needed it. Then quickly showered, gathered our bags, and checked out of the Ibis hotel. We looked for a nearby cafe to have our morning coffee, settling on a cafe McDonalds, which had the worst coffee in France. We then drove out of Nimes, which to our surprise and delight was easily accomplished, and headed toward Avignon. Taking a tip from Rick Steves, we stopped first at Pont de Gard, a first century Roman aqueduct. At 18 FF, parking wasn’t cheap, but the ancient ruin was free, and it was well worth the stop. I mean how often do you come across a 160-foot-high dual layered and dual purpose footbridge and water conveyor built nearly two thousand years ago by the Romans without any mortar. The structure spans the River Gard and assured that the Romans had plenty of water in Nimes. They must have really liked water to have built such a monumental structure. We explored the south bank of the aqueduct, then crossed over it, and hiked about the north bank. The sluice where the water used to run was closed to the public—a major disappointment—so we couldn’t walk across the top, but traversing the lower bridge was quite a thrill. There are no railings, so make one little misstep and you get wet and die. Not that there’s any reason one would make a misstep, the ruin was in excellent condition.

After concluding our visit to Pont Du Gard, we bought some fresh, watered-down orange juice and drove to Avignon. Upon arriving in Avignon, my first concern was finding a parking spot. We found one near the town center and ate lunch across the street at a charming and empty little restaurant. I ordered a beef dish, and Sharon opted for jambon and eggs. Both dishes were delicious—perhaps as good as any meal we’d had so far. After lunch we walked into the heart of the town, and the very heart of town in Avignon is the Palace of the Popes, where for a number of years back in the 1300’s six or so Popes called the place home. We paid, I believe, 26 francs for the unguided tour of the palace, which included a fairly good English language brochure. It was a good time to be indoors because rain had started fall, but this place was no Vatican (little wonder the popes returned).

The rain had subsided some by the time we finished our tour, so we walked around in the courtyard for a while before heading back to the car, ending our brief visit to Avignon. Actually our visit was extended somewhat by a hit-and-miss exit of the city. It was about 4:00 p.m. by now, and we didn’t have anything else planned for the day other than to drive toward the Grand Canyon du Verdon, which we intended to explore tomorrow. Also, we were off of Rick Steve’s itinerary, so I leafed through the Fodor’s book on France I’d brought along and to this point hadn’t consulted. The book mentioned a place called Fontaine-de-Vaucluse that was along the way and had an emerald-green river that sounded like it might be worth seeing. So we drove there.

Thinking we had reached Fontaine-de-Vaucluse, we parked the car along the road and got out to look around. Irregularly notched cliffs soared above, dotted throughout with caves and atop it all stood the ruins of a lonely castle. We started walking around a bend in the road to find the emerald-green water when we ran into a large funeral procession. We yielded the right of way and watched them, while they seemed equally keen on looking at us. Then we walked on, soon coming to a large parking lot, the River Sorgue, and the small town of Fontaine-de-Vaucluse. The town was geared for tourist with a number of shops and hotels, but it was the river and the surrounding cliffs that made this a place to see. The river was absolutely stunning, with perfectly clear water that looked to be vibrant green because of the vegetation on the bottom of the river. The water was hypnotic, at least that’s what it did to us. Since we’d gotten to the town late, there weren’t many tourists remaining, which is always a welcome state. We hiked along the river, stopping to browse in a mini arts and crafts mall, where they sold, of all things, portraits on rocks. That is photos of faces on rocks, imagine it. Imagine giving family and friends your mug on a rock as a gift. Imagine a biker-type fellow saying to the rock photographer, “I wunt my picture on a rock.” We did and found it very funny.

Then it was back to the water. We followed the river along a well-worn path through a stretch of woods to the river’s source, which was a cave. We checked out the cave and then walked back to town, where we picked up a few beers, and then on back to the car, leaving behind some of the world’s most beautiful water. And damn we never did get our picture on a rock.

We drove a bit farther and stopped for the night at a near-empty hotel a couple miles outside of Apt at about 8:00 p.m., making this one of the earliest times we stopped for the night during the trip. Also the distance traveled this day was one of the shortest of the trip. Dinner consisted of French bread, an apple, cookies, and the rest of our Camembert cheese, which we ate in our hotel room. I asked the very amiable, French-only speaking hotel manager for some ice, and came away with an entire tray’s worth of ice cubes. We drank cold beer, watched French television, talked, fooled around, and went to sleep at about 12:15 a.m.

HIGHLIGHT: Water. The water that two thousand years ago crossed a mammoth aqueduct called Pont du Gard and the water of the Sorgue.

NOTES: I had pretty much gotten over my cold, again, and Sharon’s ankle was also improved. The weather today was cooler than days earlier with intermittent rain that never caused any problems.

REFLECTIONS FROM 2020:

After the frustrations of yesterday, this day was one of smooth sailing. That was in part probably due to the fact that we didn’t try to do too much. The weather also helped, but nothing did the trick like the majesty of Pont du Gard and the lovely waters and quaintness of Fontaine-de-Vaucluse.

As must be evident from all the times we ate it, we were very fond of our French baguettes and Camembert cheese during the trip. It struck us as the French thing to do, and it traveled well.

The hotel near Apt was and still is called Hotel Le Manoir. Given how dead it was during our visit, it’s rather surprising that it’s still around.