Yesterday we had heard that the moutons would be herded through town before being taken up to eat the grassy slopes of the Alps. Naturally we joined the throngs of people lining up to watch that happen at 11am. It was worth it!

Afterwards we ambled around the market for a while and grabbed the odd coffee or patisserie item. The afternoon was spent lazing around the hotel and nibbling a fresh loaf we’d purchased for dinner, along with the last of our wine. For some reason the afternoons the last few days have yielded thunderstorms – somewhat curtailing our swimming – but nothing like the drenching rain we ‘enjoy’ at home in NZ. We spent the evening watching netflix in the car (nearer the wifi).

Today it was Helen’s birthday. After presentation of a small bicycle gift and the usual splendid breakfast . . .

We set off to spend the day in Avignon. We arrived into the heart of a protest march but soon found the meandering cobbled streets and hung around in them for a while.

Then we encountered the carousel my friend Annie had told us about and availed ourselves of a ride on it.

And just beyond it was the Palace de Papes (popes) itself. To our delight a small train of carriages took people for a ride around the city and we quickly became installed in the last carriage.

Amazingly the train negotiated the narrow cobbly streets between tourists and buildings. I could have reached out and grabbed someone’s croissant easily.

When we recovered at our hotel we headed into St Remy for birthday dinner at a cute restaurant tucked inside the old town called Le Cuisine Des Anges. Lovely food!

Afterwards managed a bit more movie night in car in hotel carpark before heading in to bed 🤪