Day 17 Marseilles to Aix

What an amazing sleep. I can't remember having a 9 hour sleep in years. I woke briefly at 5 and read half a chapter of a marvellous book Britty bought for me (H is for Hawke. What stunning and particular ways of describing things the author has, but 15 mins later tiredness overtook me and i was off into the arms of Orpheus again. When I woke a longtime later, Johnny was wrestling with the internet and the Telstra website trying to pay our phone bill. Bloody Telstra stuffs us up even on holidays. We scouted breakfast places last night but decided that the best option was the hotel dining room. there was so much choice, including 3 types of cakes (breakfast?) and squeeze your own juice. I had an egg and yoghurt (and a nibble of a huge buttery croissant that johnny was enjoying). For an hour we watched a small army of municipal workers standing around a manhole. they stood, chatted, helped a blind woman around their truck. They lifted off their construction hats (no kidding you) and kissed (on both cheeks) people who stopped by to talk to them. There was loads of high vis vests and equipment but absolutely no sign of work. When we got to our room, Johnny noticed that reinforcements had arrived. More people (one in green trousers and clipboard) and the consultations continued. We are about to leave the room and there is still no sight of action. Must be about about time for a smoko and coffee. Don't know what's happening down that sewer but it is getting a lot of attention. Today I'm doing a Molly. I refuse to go on. I'm stopping outside the hotel, refusing to lug the luggage up to the car park. The car can come to me. Maybe I will drop into the sewer conference for a bit of a chat as I wait. I might be able to give them an international perspective on whatever they are discussing. Its shorts and T shirts today.

Pleased to report that 12 workers and 6 mins of action later the task has been completed. The boys have packed up and zoomed of to their next problem solving emergency. Bon!

It was late afternoon by this time and time to get to our river barge accommodation in Avignon. Johnny had booked a few days on a river barge on the river Rhone. It was amazingly large, especially as compared to other French accommodation. We drove out of Avignon, a UN city of great cultural significance, out along the river to Monsieur Jean Marie Papp’s boat. He showed us through the accommodation with great flourish. We had the captain’s room. We had deck chairs and a private pool on deck. Below deck we had a large room with shower, toilet and kitchen facilities. Our window was just above water level and I’m pleased to say that the barge was so large that it was unaffected by the strong tidal flow of the river Rhone. We settled in and sat up on deck to connect to wi fi and deal with business over a cup of tea. An hour later we were back in the car and heading back into Avignon. This was a walled city and as we emerged from the underground car park we found ourselves inside the walls of the fortress. There were castles everywhere in Avignon. Some we could see from our barge but as we walked up through the town and up to the park beyond the castle, we could see the surrounding landscape dotted with them. From the top of the park we could see the setting sun kissing the tops of the surrounding hills. it looked as bright as snow. As we walked back a lone flautist was filling the square with some wonderful music. We walked past him down to the main mall where the complete length was lined with open air restaurants. Some looked appealing but after a quick reference to the Trip Advisor we passed and moved on. We decided on La Civette and were not disappointed. Johnny had a Santana Burger and I had the salmon. It was a lovely warm night and pleasant atmosphere so we stayed for dessert and coffee. Bit tired now so off to sleep. Check in with you tomorrow. Love Lily