Sur le pont d'Avignon to the banks of the Seine

Trip Start Mar 19, 2006
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Trip End Apr 16, 2006


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Saturday, April 8, 2006

We visited Avignon before returning our Peugeot and returning ourselves to Paris. Nancy wanted to walk on the famous "Pont d'Avignon" or Pont St-Benezet, as it is actually called. But the 12€ fee dissuaded her (thus the picture "under" the bridge). We also looked around the downtown area, mining the streets for free wireless connections to pay some bills, and temporarily melding into the vibrant street scene.

We returned to Paris by the TGV, and checked into our hotel - incomparable, of course, to the country home in Provence. So we headed outdoors - after all, we were in Paris! We walked along the Seine, reveling in the beautiful sunny weather. When we walked by the Basalique Notre-Dame, the church bells sounded for about 20 minutes. I wish I could have brought sound recording equipment to capture sound samples - the sirens in time with the bells, the sound of the paper mill back in Fontaine-de-la-Vaucluse, the discordant bells of the church of Abesses in Montmartre, the screech of the metro, etc.

We had French onion soup again in St-Germaine, and the most expensive bottle of water we've ever been served (and it didn't even contain special vitamins). We then started a trend of going to McDonald's to drink Orangina so we could use the free WiFi access. In recent years, McDonald's tried to lure us back with low-fat menus, healthy deep-frying oil, and all to no avail. They're finally doing one thing right with free wireless Internet (compared to 8€/hour at the train station, or 20€/day in the hotel)! We thought this one was quite comfortable with large modern paintings, beautiful Parisian window rails and low-price menus...but that was before Nancy noticed two mice running around on the floor!
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