Traveling with Ellen

Window from which the Pope would wave COLD that was the word for today.  47 degrees.   Oh, did I say WINDY!   I’m glad I packed a sweatshirt. We left the ship at 9 am and had a “stroll” to the Pope’s Palace.  This is a huge castle and fortress built in 1307.  It only took 17 years to build.  It was where seven popes lived during the 14th century before the return of the papacy to Rome.  Our stroll across to the old city The Broken Bridge The Broken Bridge is a medieval bridge across the Rhone built in 1177.  Only four arches survive. Into the old city The bell that rang when a new pope was selected, before the smoke of today Picture a fire pit where Bettiann is standing  This us the chimney above the fire pit The Pope’s actual room where he slept Some of the original paintings still on the walls The chapel in the palace The Pope’s palace is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the tour inside took about two hours.   After our tour ...

  We had a rainy day today.   Our tour was to include a bus ride to a scenic railroad, and a train ride on a narrow gauge railroad through a gorge.    All in all, we didn’t get too wet between bus and train and the train had enclosed cars.   We made it about 1/3 of the way up the gorge before the train “broke” and we headed, backwards, to the station. Not a major disappointment given the weather and the temperature. We had lunch of the ship and afterwards, Bettiann and I played cribbage the rest of the afternoon as we sailed from Tournon to Avignon. At 3 pm, our chef gave us a demonstration on how to make chocolate lava cake and afterwards “afternoon tea” was served with small sandwiches and a few pastries.   Tomorrow we have a walking tour of Avignon and the Pope’s Palace where the papacy was moved from Rome to Avignon between 1309 - 1377. We shall see.  Weather is still going to be an issue tomorrow morning . Not a bad thing for us to have a relaxing...