FB6: Van Gogh and Roman towns

Tonight, we are staying in Avignon.  On our way, we took a detour to St. Remy.  Here, we visited Monastery Saint-Paul de Mausole, once the home to Van Gogh.  It featured some gardens and access to a few rooms where he lived.  There wasn't much to it.  I did, however, realize that dogs were allowed to go into some museums in France.  The US needs to follow suit.  We have seen many leashless dogs in France, but as we drove in, we saw one dog, with a collar on, walking down the street without an owner.  On our way out of the city, many miles from where we saw it the first time, it was still roaming on the sidewalk.



A few steps up the road was the Site Archeologique de Glanum, the remains of a Roman town.  There were signs in English around the ruins, explaining what building was formerly in each location, sometimes including a progression of how each structure was renovated throughout the years, depending on who had taken over.  You were able to see the water and sewer lines and how it worked in the town.



We arrived at the north side of Avignon, near the Palais des Papes, a known highlight of the town.  We went underneath huge stone walls and ended up in a three story parking garage, which was attached to our hotel.  The hotel is very modern and has a friendly staff.  The location is perfect.

As I have spoken about before, I am not a huge fan of cities.  I can't put my finger on why, but I am enjoying this city.  The layout is open, yet feels personal.  Most roads do not allow cars.  There are tons and tons of unique shops.  You don't just have all gift shops with the same items inside like many other cities.  We saw an awesome toy store that I hope to visit tomorrow, a comic shop, a cookie/chocolate store, and a gelato place with around 74 flavors.  Either 74 or 76.  Jeremy found a board game store that I will check out tomorrow.  There is also a nice mixture of architecture in the town, with old buildings meshing well with modern looking areas.



Jeremy informed me that the hotel had laundry service.  I had known that the hotel in the next town offered this, but I figured that it would be better to get it done earlier.  Then, I saw the prices.  5 euros a shirt.  It would cost me well over 100 euros at that price per garment.  Forget that!  I found a laundromat ten minutes away and did my laundry there!

Tomorrow, we will do the palace and then Miles and I will be driving to a cave about an hour away.  Neither of us have been in a cave anywhere near its size.