When we woke this morning, the ship was safely moored at Roquemaure which is on the Rhone River north of Avignon. There was no sign of severe weather now. The river was calm, there was no wind, there were grey clouds but the sun was shining most of the time. The temperature was a pleasant 18C.
We went down for breakfast soon after 9am.
The ship departed from Roquemaure at 10:30 and headed for Avignon.
Just after 11:30, the ship was approaching a lock and so we went out on deck to observe and take photos. The captain told me that the lock was 22m tall but it didn't look that big to me. The signs said it was the Avignon lock.
Even though the temperature was 18C, it felt cool on deck and there was a hint of a sprinkle of rain - nothing like the dire forecast from yesterday.
One thing that was different about this lock was the overflow next to the lock which was gushing like a waterfall.
At about noon, we reached Avignon. Instead of heading straight to the dock, the captain steered the ship close to the famous Avignon Bridge. No doubt he was giving us the best opportunity to take photos of the bridge and the town.
The original bridge was built more than 800 years ago and it had 22 arches of which only four remain.
Up the hill from the bridge, you can see the Popes Palace where we will be going tonight for a fancy dinner with Scenic. This is where the popes lived in medieval times.
At 1pm, there was a barbecue lunch in the dining room with chicken, steak, pork and fish. Another delicious lunch.
Our outing this afternoon was to the Pont de Gard. This is a massive aqueduct bridge across a valley 25km from Avignon. It was built by the Romans about 2000 years ago to supply water to the city of Nimes.
Our bus departed at 2pm and took us on a 30 minute drive through the French countryside with vineyards most of the way.
Suzy and I had been here before - probably about 18 years ago. It was quite different from what we remember of the previous visit because it is much better organised. There is now a building near the carpark that has a museum and shops.
They split us into two groups each with our own guide. First she took us through the museum and then to a cinema to see a film about the structure.
Then it was a ten minute walk along a wide path to get to the monument itself. At first, you see it through a few trees and then soon you are standing near it looking up admiring this engineering marvel. There are three levels of stone arches.
Our guide then took us down a gravel path near the river on the opposite side to the car park. This gave us an excellent view of the structure partly because it was fully lit by the sun on this side.
Next, we walked across the bridge. At the the top of the lower set of arches, there is a path that is now a footpath but was used by vehicles at various times in the past. Some people then climbed up the hill on the other side to get to the top of the structure but Suzy and I decided not to do so.
It was well worth the visit. It was one of the highlights of the cruise. We were lucky that by the time we arrived the rain had cleared, the sun was shining and the sky was blue. The temperature was a pleasant 20C.
We were back at the ship at about 5:45pm.
The outing this evening was a dinner at the Palais des Papes on the hill at Avignon. Scenic refer to it as a Scenic Enrich event. We left the ship at 7:30pm.
To get there, Scenic had organised small novelty trains that were only wide enough to fit three people side by side on each of the seats. It was necessary to have a narrow vehicle because some of the streets were very narrow.
Most of the way up the hill, they drove slowly over the cobblestones until they approached the steepest part where they accelerated to be able to get to the top.
The building is a large structure made of stone as usual. We climbed several stone staircases to get to the hall where the dinner would be held. Apparently this was the dining room used by the popes when holding a banquet.
The dining room had large circular tables for the guests and there was a string quartet playing on the stage.
It was a three-course meal with wine. We'd been asked to select the main course several days ago.
The event finished by 10pm and the trains took us back down the hill to our ship. We were in bed by 10:30pm after another very memorable day.
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