Day 5 - Arles yes but Avignon no

 After a choice of many things for breakfast, my favorites were the Berry-Banana-orange smoothie, the smoked salmon (lox), and the bacon which was crisp, dry, but not burnt.  We were divided up in groups after breakfast for our city tour of Arles.  We chose the gentle walkers as Howard was still favoring his knee.

It was a cold, windy day, which started out cloudy and ended up just starting to drizzle by the end of the tour.  Arles has a Roman Coliseum/Amphitheater built in 90AD.It is amazing that the Romans created such structures at that time. We walked the old cobbled street's and really enjoyed the architecture of the buildings.

Finally returned to the boat and tried to warm up.  On our bed, when we returned , was ascarf For Lynda, and a baseball cap for Howard.Lunch was served and we tried to sit with people we hadn’t met before.  It is fun to find out about where they come from, what they are or had done work wise, and if they are first time AmaWaterway cruisers (like us) or repeat veteran Ama guests. 

We were supposed to go on an afternoon tour, but Howard’s knee was still bothersome.  We stayed on the boat as it cruised to Avignon.  Howard napped and Lynda worked on her blog.  It was a good thing we stayed in as the weather turned nasty.  It was raining real hard so pictures were hard to take.  Each afternoon they serve an afternoon tea.  They also have a 24 hour self service coffee station.  When the boat docked in Avignon, Lynda went into town to find a pharmacy and look for a cane for Howard.  Luck was with us and the pharmacy had a collapsible cane. A green flowered pattern, but Howard was lucky they had that.  A 14 euro investment but worth every penny.  He said it helped take the pressure off his knee.

Dinner that night was a bit of a disappointment.  The appetizer and salad were fine.  However, our main dish of a pork was cooked, but not even warm.  On top of that it was on the pink side.  Everything was not what you would expect for gourmet food.  I had them take it away as I couldn’t even look at it.  I complained to the head waiter and he did offer to bring me some chicken or fish but it was so late already that I declined.  Dessert was good.  Howard was still tired so he went to bed early.  I stayed up and went to the lounge at 10pm when the captain was going to bring the boat close to the illuminated bridge that was half bombed by the German’s during WWII. There is a French song that children sing about the bridge. 

 Cheers

Toot and Teaser