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Sunday, October 5, 2014

Sentimental Sunday: Mom's 1953 Europe Road Trip - Southern France

From Mom's Europe trip diary, in the "PLACES VISITED" section: 
October 5, Sunday – Road between Aix-en-Provence and Perpignan, France
After breakfast of just plain tea, left Aix and drove to Avignon.  Then stopped for lunch in Nimes.  Drove through country that resembled in some respects Texas (some parts desolate).  Plenty of grape vines all along the road.  Again saw Mediterranean from Narbonne to Perpignan.  For dinner tonight I think I had tongue -- it was all right but don't think I'll order it again.

According to the "HOTELS STOPPED AT" section of the trip diary, my mother and her friends stayed at the Grand Hotel in Perpignan, France.

Avignon, Palais des Papes depuis [from] Tour Philippe le Bel [September 2008] / Jean-Marc ROSIER / CC-BY-SA-3.0


tour de philippe le bel, [25 January 2003] / woupa02 / CC BY-NC 2.0
Mom and her friends could not have helped but notice the Palais des Papes (Papal Palace) while they were in Avignon, pictured above.  It was the seat of the Papacy during the 14th century and the building dominates the skyline.  This view of the Palace des Papes is from the Tour Philippe le Bel (Tower of Philip the Fair), which is also pictured at left.  It is a remnant of a fortress that once stood at one end of the Pont Saint-Bénézet (also known as the Pont d'Avignon), the former bridge over the Rhone River.

Nimes is often called the "French Rome" because of the number of Roman era structures there, such as Les Arènes, the Arena or Amphitheater, pictured below:
 Nimes - Arena [2 June 1979] / Roger Wollstadt / CC BY-SA 2.0

The travel for this day was mostly in the Languedoc-Roussillon region of France, which is the largest wine-producing region in the world, hence all the grape vines Mom saw.  Here is a vineyard near the town of Bages, an old village on a rocky outcrop near Narbonne, 
Bages, old village and vineyard near Narbonne (Languedoc - Roussillon, France) {15 August 2007] / Craig DrolletFrederick Wildman and Sons, Ltd / CC BY-SA 2.0

Here is the map for this day's travels:

This is the 59th in a series of posts transcribing entries in my mother's 1953 Europe Trip journal.


© Amanda Pape - 2014 - click here to e-mail me.

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