Day 37 - Wednesday 18th October - Cruise

While we were in the lounge last night talking to some people the idea was floated that we didn't have to do an excursion just because we'd put our names down so when the alarm went off at 7am for our 8.30am departure we both decided to stay in bed and wag our excursion. Someone had said the night before that after a while you thought ABC - Another Bloody Castle/Church/Picturesque Village. As it turned out there were many people who'd had the same thought and had wagged their excursions. The trip we were supposed to do would have been great but a day of rest and blog catch up was just what we needed. We would have gone to Pont-du-Gard, which is an ancient Roman aqueduct, a museum about Roman life and Uzès which is yet another picturesque Medieval town. Apparently the trip was very good but instead we had a late breakfast, spoke with Sophie to wish her a happy birthday, read in the lounge for a while, then went for a leisurely walk into and around Avignon. We stopped for coffee and croissants where our guide Emmanuel had said to go, in Place de Change. We wandered and wandered, did some gift shopping,  John bought me a lovely Desigual handbag for my birthday, and we stopped every now and then to rest. We got a little lost because we'd forgotten to get a map when we left the ship, so I asked a policewoman, who was giving a car a parking ticket, for directions. She hunted in her big bag for a map and was more than happy to show us which way to go. We were soon going in the right direction and decided to head back to the ship for lunch. After lunch we went back into Avignon so I could get some souvenirs and to go to Pont d'Avignon so we could actually walk on this famous bridge with the pretty song. Again we got a little bamboozled by the signs but eventually found our way to the bridge. We walked to the end,  down to the lower level,  along a side walkway and took lots and lots of photos. We didn't dance on the bridge as prescribed in the song because by this time my foot was killing me and we still had to make the trudge back to the ship. We had time for a relaxing drink and rest before getting all dolled up again for our special dinner at the Pope's Palace. We were picked up at the ship by two of the little tourist sightseeing trains which was cute. A few people decided to walk, but we chose the bus for a little bit of fun but going over the cobbles was interesting.  The walkers got there first of course. We were shown upstairs (many stairs) to the private banquet hall in the palace where we'd been the day before. It was arranged with beautifully set round tables for our dinner and a string quartet was playing gorgeous  music.  We sat with Nelly and Bill, our Canadian friends and enjoyed the food, wine,  music and company. What a great night. Then the trains were back to transport everyone back but John and I decided to walk back very slowly. We took photos of the Palace lit up at night and on a beautiful balmy evening we had a lovely slow stroll back through the streets of Avignon and still beat the trains. Tired and sore feet so we headed off to bed.