A Bit of History
September 7th
We walked down to the river and crossed the old bridge from Tain l'Hermitage to tour the Tournon Castle Museum. When we made our way through the narrow streets and up the steps to the museum we discovered it was closed until 2pm. I guess we worked up an appetite because we both were searching for some place for lunch. We decided on a cute little patisserie that advertised a special of quiche and salad. Thinking this would be a nice light lunch we both ordered our own but soon discovered we could have shared, once again. In addition to the quiche and salad a pastry was included. We actually did share Jay's chocolate mousse but ended up taking home some macarons for my dessert.
After lunch we waddled up to the castle and had a nice walk through gleaning what we could on our own. Tournon castle is classified as an historical monument and dates back to the 15th and 16th centuries. It is remarkably well preserved and its medieval architecture makes it one of the most beautiful castles in this area of France. The Counts of Tournon lived here and visiting the rooms is an interesting journey through time. From the terrace there is an amazing 360 degree view of both towns, the Rhone and the famous old bridge that connects the two places.
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| Saint Nicolas |
I guess we are really creatures of habit because we ended up dining at Le Quai...again! Is three nights out of five too many? I think not! I ordered the delicious white fish Jay had the night before and he ordered the veal chop that was on the specials board. We both hate to leave this fabulous restaurant and staff but alas we are off to Avignon tomorrow.
One More Piece of Chocolate Please!
September 8th
Before driving to Avignon we visited the Valrhona Chocolate Factory in Tain. The tour is self-guided and mostly in French but we did learn a few things. We both thought that cocoa beans were little like coffee beans but they are grown inside a very large hard shelled fruit that looks a little like a football. Who knew? At Valrhona they still do much of their production by hand, especially the decoration of the chocolates. When we arrived a nice lady gave us each a sample and after we purchased our tickets for the tour a nice gentleman gave us each a little sample bag of chocolates. Still not done...As we started our tour there is a machine where you scan your ticket to begin and two more milk chocolates and two dark chocolates drop out for you to try. We hardly had to purchase any on our way out but of course we did anyway!
Upon arriving in Avignon we actually had an easy time finding the underground parking near the Palais du Papes which is very close to the apartment we rented through VRBO. We parked and went in search of the place which is down a little alley right across from the Palace. A large brown door with two lion door knockers greeted us and after punching the #2 on the call box the lovely manager showed us to our new abode. We love the newly renovated apartment with all the amenities except one...there is no way to drive our car up to the door to unload. Consequently we made several trips back and forth to the parking garage to get all of our stuff moved. Traveling light is not a concept you can do when traveling with bikes and all the gear they require. We have two large red suitcases that the bikes go in for air travel but once we put the bikes together they stay out of the suitcases and we put most of our other items inside. Still we end up with the two big suitcases, both bikes, a bag with groceries, a bag of items I've purchased, our bike helmets, the list goes on. It is a little embarrassing to haul all this stuff around for people to see. I'm sure they think we just have packed too many clothes. In reality our clothes for 2 months fit into my small roll-a-board.
I didn't do restaurant research before arriving so we just walked down the way and found a place where the menu had items we both wanted to order. It turned out to be a little less than we'd hoped for but we will do better tomorrow!
