Avignon, France - site of the Palais des Papes

Avignon was a very pleasant surprise.  The cathedral and Palais des Papes (Palace of the Popes) was amazing and the medieval village, Villenueve, was really something.

Plaza near our AirBnb room

Another eco planted wall like the one in Madrid and the one in Tacoma.  Of course, it is waning because it is Fall.

The municipal building (Hotel de Ville) flying the French and Catalan flags

The plaza in from of the Hotel de Ville - a carousel and lots of outdoor cafes.  They don't seem to open for dinner until 6 or 7pm in France, much earlier than Spain but we ate tapas in bars and waiting until 7pm is a bit of a jolt.

The Palais de Papes (the seat of the second Pope from the time when there were two).  The cathedral, another residence, and the palace gardens are to the left of this photo.

Building across from the Palais.  My quarter of Latin is not enough to know what it is, but I like it.

Entrance to the Palais, where an exhibition of African art is showing

The attached cathedral with a huge crucifix in front and golden  statue of Mary on top

Steve demonstrating the extremely old stone 

The Palais plaza as the sun goes down

Even the French garbage cans are fashionable

One of the views of Avignon from the cathedral grounds

A very beautiful statue of a woman frolicking in the water.  This is in the Palais gardens next to the cathedral

Barge on the Rhone outside the old gate to Avignon.  I swear we saw this very barge in Perpignan.  We noticed the name and commented that it looked like a floating hotel.

The Pont d'Avignon that was destroyed by the French in a dispute with Provence.  Reminds me of the song I learned in French class - Sur le Post d'Avignon; the very bridge.

We took a bus across the Rhone to visit Villeneuve, as recommended by our host.  It is a wonderful medieval village, overshadowed by Fort Saint-Andre.  People actually live in the village.  I'm sure it and the Fort are used for demonstration and re-enactments, but people park their cars, eat dinner, shop, and live there, too.

Fort Saint-Andre could easily be the site of some of the filming of  Monty Python and the Holy Grail.  I can see in my mind's eye the Frenchman leaning over and shouting "your mother was a hamster and your father smelled of elderberries".

Statue of Mary, I assume, in a small park in the village

Steve waiting for me just outside the village near the bus stop where we caught the bus back to Avignon

We took the train to Arles at the end of our stay in Avignon.  Coming up next...  We have 6 days in Arles; two days in one AirBnb apartment and 4 days in another.  We are pretty excited.  Arles has several buildings that were built by the Romans and are still in rather good condition.

Perpignan, France just across the border from Figueres

It was a rather short ride to Perpignan and our accommodation was more on the rustic side, but very clean and well cared for.  The city was delightful for walking, once we found our way around.  My favorites were the canal and the Castillet.

The Castillet - the entrance to the city through the old wall.  The wall are brick, but  there seems to be a pink light on them at night, gives it a sort of Disney look.

Through the gate into the city

View from the top (yes, I made it!) of the Castillet.  Notice the Catalan flag proudly waving. A large segment of the Perpignan population is ethnic Catalan.  They are only a few miles from Catalonia.

 The railing is very old and the walkway on the Castillet is only a couple feet wide.  Yes, I held on to the stone wall for dear life.  Did I mention that I'm afraid of heights?

At first, I thought this said "Viva la republica, Catalan".  But, now I see that first word is Tisca, which according to my translator makes the phrase, "The Republic is in charge, Catalan".  Not sure who's side they are on.

This is a public building used for weddings and museum exhibits.  But, boy, is it gorgeous at night!

The foundation inside the above public building

Announcement on the window.  Unfortunately, we arrived too late to see this exhibition.  Steve was bummed.

View from our back window

View from our front window.  Yes, many homes look very plain on the outside.  But, the inside can be a whole other story.

We left Perpignan and traveled to Avignon after a few days.

Figueres, Spain

Here we are in Figueres, after a 4.5 hour high-speed train ride through Spain.  [We thought we would at least catch a glimpse of Barcelona's iconic architecture as we entered and left the train station.  But, no, the Barcelona station is entirely underground.  All we saw were suburbs and the black night of tunnels. Darn it!]

In Figueres, the home of Salvador Dali and the Dali Theatre and Museum, we have a room in someone's apartment through AirBnb, not the whole apartment this time.  It is a gorgeous modern apartment and we have a huge bed in a beautifully appointed room with adjacent bathroom.  Our room has a tiny balcony overlooking a side-street and the apartment itself has a beautiful terrace balcony overlooking the small plaza beside the apartment building, with a great view of the Teatro Jardi Cine which apparently has frequent concerts and lots of activity periodically.  Tonight, it was at rest.

On the right is a Dali-like fantasy book structure that children can climb on.  I'll  post a better photo of it tomorrow, especially for my librarian friends.  I didn't want the parents to think I was photographing their children, rather than the structure.  This was taken at the end of our evening in Figueres.

After we were settled, we walked around the city center nearby and ventured to the Dali Museum to see if we needed to purchase our tickets for our visit tomorrow.  Thankfully, we did not have a repetition of the Reina Sofia debacle in Madrid.  The Museum is OPEN tomorrow and there should be no problem with tickets because it's the slow season.  (Besides, they won't sell tickets ahead of time in person, only online.  Hmmm...)

The beautiful Rambla in Figueres

This appears to be "City Hall" at 5pm.  Notice the banner over the door and the lack of people in the plaza.

The iconic Dali Theatre and Museum

I couldn't help it.  I just love these antlers on some of the tour buses all over  Europe.

The house where Salvador Dali grew up in Figueres.  According to the  B&W photos in the windows, the house to the right is on the site of the Dali garden.

The Dali dome with Iglesia de San Pedro's tower in the background.  Notice the golden human figures poised on the edges of the building; some seem to be preparing to dive.

More golden divers all along the roof edge of the Dali Museum

This sculpture is pure Dali and the back is downright scary

So, while looking around for a good, cheap place to eat.  We noticed that the "City Hall" plaza was starting to fill up.  When I mentioned this might be a demonstration starting, I was reminded that the Paseo happens every night in every Spanish plaza and public area.  So, we sat down at one of the outdoor tables at a cafe in the plaza to eat and watch the Paseo.  Then, about half way through our meal, we started hearing amplified speeches and noticed that the entire plaza area in front of the "City Hall" was filled with people facing the "democracia" banner over the door.  The speeches, some rather passionate, most more like reports, went on for half an hour.  There were children among the crowd, so we figured it was safe enough for us.  At the end, and interspersed among the speeches, there was a great deal of applause.  On the internet news when we returned to our room, we heard that the the Catalan leader, Mr. Puigdemont, has agreed to go to the Spanish parliament tomorrow, Thursday, to explain his position.  Friday is the day that Spain plans to take over the Catalan government and fire all the Catalan government leaders.  So, tomorrow should be very interesting - Dali and political unrest.  We are living in exciting times!

Atun (tuna, the best he says he's ever eaten) salad for Steve and lomo bocadillo caliente con queso (pork loin and cheese sandwich on baguette, heated) for me, with the ever popular Coca Cola and olive bowl.  [I'm am learning to love olives.]

This plaza filled up fast.  By 7:30pm, it was packed.

We will keep you posted - Dali and politics tomorrow.  We sleep in Figueres tonight and tomorrow night.  Then, it's off to Perpignan, France by train on October 27.  [Steve is stoked to be going to France.  However, our attempt to speak French with the Dali ticket agent (who only spoke Spanish and French) did not go well because we effectively only speak English.  C'est la vie! - at least for now.]

Madrid in all its glory

Laundry started, we headed for Reina Sofia this morning, eager to see everything.  There was only one snag, the museum is closed on Tuesdays.  It seems that you can do lots of research and miss some rather crucial bits.  We were SO disappointed, but this last museum on our Paseo de la Arte pass can wait.  Our pass is good for an entire year and we may pass this way again.

If one door closes..., as they say.  We realised that, if we don't spend the whole day at the Reina Sofia Museum, we have all of Madrid at our disposal.  So, after drying the laundry at the local launderette, we bought tickets for the Madrid City Tour (Hop On Hop Off).  It was fantastic!  And, I took lots of photographs.

With a tip off from our daughter, we were able to do a treasure hunt all across the city for the displays set up to advertise the upcoming Harry Potter Exhibition, coming to Madrid on November 18, 2017.  I'm proud to announce that we found every single one of them: 3 were accessible from our tour bus and one we had to find by navigating with the public buses.  Steve is an excellent navigator and has saved our bacon more times than I care to think of on this trip.

Sorting Hat at Plaza de Colon, Madrid

Dobby at Glorieta de Balboa, Madrid

Coche de Weasleys at Retiro Park, Madrid

Harry Potter's broom at Plaza de Callao, Madrid

We are indeed heading into Catalonia.  Yes, we know that the region is unsettled right now. We do not plan to go into Barcelona, though we are both very eager to see it.  But, the deadline given to Catalonia to hand over the reins of government to Spain is Thursday.  If the leaders do not do so and if Catalonia declares independence and resists, it is possible there will be violence, or huge demonstrations and disruption of transportation at the very least in Barcelona. Figueres is our consolation prize for skipping Barcelona now.

We leave on the 11:30 am train from Madrid to Figueres tomorrow.  We have an AirBnb room reserved across from the Dali Museum, the place which used to be Salvador Dali's home.  The room is also fairly near the railroad station, too.  We are staying two nights and will be headed to Perpignan, France on Friday, October 27, 2017.  Yes, we are making a run for the border and I never in my life expected to even semi-seriously say those words.

I have been told more than once that the Catalan people are peaceful and that they fully intend to keep this dispute with the Spanish national government non-violent.  I hope that is the case.  This is an incredibly diverse and beautiful country.  The Spanish people that we have met and dealt with have been exceptionally kind and considerate.  Most do not seem to be concerned about this dispute with Catalonia.  The U.S. State Department has also not issued any travel warnings about Catalonia or Barcelona in particular.  We are just being cautious.

I will post frequently to let our loved ones know we are okay.

Madrid - Again

We arrived in beautiful Madrid on a high-speed train and, since I am so done with walking everywhere and didn't want to wander all over looking for the address of our next AirBnb, I insisted on taking a taxi from the train station.  Our driver apologized and took a huge turn around a large chunk of the city to get to the address because he said, in part Spanish, part English and gestures, that it was easier to walk to it than drive to it.  Actually, it turns out that the apartment is directly across the street from the Atocha train station = $10 to go across the street.  But, on the bright side, we did find the address very easily and didn't have to walk all over looking for it. 😉

Our AirBnd apartment is lovely and very convenient for what we came to do before we head for France.  We are going to spend several hours tomorrow at the Reina Sofia Museum, which is across the street from Atocha Railway Station, which is across the street from us.  Then, I had high hopes of seeing some of that Harry Potter advertising that is supposed to be in 4 different places around the city.  Unfortunately, the "sculptures" may not be in place yet and, even if they are, it's all pretty far away from us.  The actual Harry Potter Exhibition doesn't begin until November 18 in Madrid, darn it.  But, perhaps we can do a taxi exploration while we take care of some personal errands.

We are carefully monitoring what is happening in Catalonia, but we decided to head to Figueres, north of Barcelona, anyway to see the Dali museum.  Friday we will know if that was a really stupid idea or not.  But, at least, we are not seeing danger alerts for American or British tourists.  So, it will probably be fine.

Photos from Madrid soon!