A broad abroad: NICE

We were a bit tired from our long day touring the Riviera but we got up and decided we should go to the flower market and then go to the top of Castle Hill. Caroline, our tour guide from yesterday and the front desk person told us there was an elevator - thank goodness. We were still recoveering from yesterdays adventure.

The flower market was beautiful - lots of fun Christmas arrangments as well as just beautiful flowers.

Look at this beautiful assortment of olives.

Of course they had the usual vegetables, etc. but I thought you were probably getting tired of tht stuff so I'll lay off for awhile - maybe until Portugal.

Caroline had told us we must taste socca while in the market - we found it! Like a pancake but made out of chickpeas, olive oil and flour. Sprinkle with some pepper and voila! a good snack. I liked it but Sharon and I had shared an order and we couldn't eat the whole thing. They wrap it in a paper and hand it to you and you tear off pieces as you walk along.

We left the market and began our walk to Castle Hill - not too far away.

We started to climb.

We climbed higher.

And higher!

Did I tell you the elevator wasn't running. I had started on the climb to see if it was going to be worth it. Sharon's foot is still giving her trouble so I thought I'd check it out for her. Next thing I knrew she was at one of the levels so we proceeded to climb together.

We got this far and decided it was far enough. There are restaurants, garveyards, and old ruins all around the hill area.

There are also lots of benches to rest upon but of course we didn't stop to take advantage of them.

We managed to get down the hill and wandered over to the old town. We stopped in a little church along the way.

We decided it was time for a coffee break. The socca was laying in our stomachs and the climb had tired us out - rest break in order.

We got a little distracted at this shop where they had artists creating jewelry, purses and an assortment of other things out of all natural materials. I don't know if I'm happy or sad to report we didn't buy anything.

We found a little patisserie and sat down and had some cafe creme.

Now of course we were ready to use the toilette. So as an aside - I hate toilets without seats and they are prevalent in France.

And just because I've put in this aside I will say one of my favorite things here in Avignon is our towel warmer.

Well unto the rest of the day. ( I bet you never thought you'd see a toilet bowl on the blog. One surprise after another.)

To change the subject - look at this.

Yup - those are the necks and heads of those birds.

We continued our walk through old town and eventually ended up on the "main drag" so walked over to the Christmas market. I was thinking about buying a picture I had seen so wanted to take another look.

Just something about it appealed to me. It's a picture from the Montmartre district in Paris. Not Nice but our travels have taken us to Montmartre.

I decided to think about it. On our way to the market we had passed a place that was shucking oysters and all of sudden I had a craving for some. It was a little way back so I felt guilty asking Sharon if she would mind. Double guilty because she doesn't like seafood. She consented - and we walked back and I got an assortment of shellfish.

Sharon's Caesar salad.

My seafood!

And our fries! Fries go with everything! Just like wine.

Well, we finished that and I had made the deision to buy the picture. Back to the market. On the way we say a sport walking shoe store. Sharon had been in need of some new walking shoes so we stopped in. They had a plethora of shoes and she walked out with a new pair.

Waiting for Brooks.

Voila! A perfect fit!

With new shoes on her feet we headed back to the market so I could purchase the picture. By this time we had put miles on our feet and we were tired so walked back to the hotel to pack and relax.

That night we went to a little restaurant around the corner from our hotel.

Such a nice Christmas feel to the street.