The "road to Avignon" has been made famous in song, story and poems for ages, so there is something a bit legendary and surreal about setting a course there. I had Mary Lowell's famous lines jingling in my mind as I set the course in our navigation.
And looking up to the lady, sings: —
Down the road to Avignon,
The long, long road to Avignon,
Across the bridge to Avignon,
One morning in the spring.
We left Borgogne mid morning and made a last minute decision to arrive in Chateauneuf de Pape for lunch. Most red wine drinkers will recognize the name of this village, long associated with some of the very best reds in the world, so we felt like it might be an interesting waypoint, and we were correct! The surrounding land is blanketed with vines that look altogether different from what we had encountered in Borgogne, and the village itself is small and built upon a rather steep hill. It was Sunday when we travelled there, so it was virtually deserted, and many of the shops, restaurants and wine "caves" were closed, but we managed to find an open cafe and an actual "quick" lunch...our first, I think! Later, we climbed towards the top of the village to see the view and the castle, and along the way we found an open wine cave/cellar. The sign on the desk said there would be no English tour until much later, but in another of many serendipitous strokes of fortune, a gentleman outside invited us to join a private group that was about to begin.
Our session was brief, but what I learned is that the Chateauneuf de Pape appellation is far more complex than the Borgogne. Wine makers draw upon 13 different types of grapes, mixing them in complex ways, but the foundation is almost always Grenache and many of the grenache vines are close to 150 years old. The unique flavor concentration here derives from the stones that surround the vines and blanket the vineyards providing heat and wicking away moisture. We tasted a few, bought a couple and resolved to let them sit for 5 years which is what was recommended. More interesting than all of that, though, was the cave itself. Dating back 2000 years to the roman era, it still had the original pits dug into stone where people would stomp the grapes.
We finally arrived in Avignon around 3pm and checked into our hotel, The Hotel D'Europe, a favorite of many historical figures, including Napolean Bonaparte whose diaries are said to mention the place many times.
When I was a little girl, I was fascinated with castles and princesses and knights. I had, as many of you did, I suspect, the 1970s version of the Fisher Price Little Peoples Castle, and it forever shaped my ideas about what a castle should look like. Arriving in Avignon felt like I had arrived to that castle. Huge in scale, surrounded by turrets and a gigantic stone wall with a lovely river and beautiful bridge extending outward, it creates an impression of grandeur from the very first glimpse and quickly reawakened my childhood imagination with its maidens, chevaliers and dragons and kings.
In reality, the Palais des Papes owed its splendor more to the Catholic Church than any fantasy court. It was the home of multiple popes and the seat of Western Christianity in the 14th century. We had just enough time to take a tour, an incredibly unique experience due to the electronic pads that are provided. The interactive pad serves as a guide, but also recreates the inside of the rooms just as they would have been ages ago wherever you point the device in any direction.
We only had one night in this splendid city, and we would have liked more, but after days and days of sightseeing, we were both ready to relax and looked forward to moving on to the Cote d'Azure the next day.
Stay tuned for Part 5: Antibes!
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