Aramon to Avignon – 14 km

When we got up, there was not a breath of wind, flat calm on the river, clear sky – an idyllic day in prospect. Well, until 9 a.m., that is. On the dot, the wind sprang up, howling down from the north. Mistral. But with only 14 km to cover, we set off undeterred, soon passing under the twin TGV bridges.

It was slow going, all the same. With wind and current against us, we were not making much speed. There was a giant container barge coming up as we set off, and soon we passed a double fuel barge going downstream. But otherwise there was little traffic on the river.

As we pushed into the Avignon branch of the river, with the current much stronger than when we left (has it been raining in the Alps?), we felt the big wheel added a certain Disney feel that was not wholly inappropriate.

All the same, the palace does look impressive.

And the broken bridge is always an attraction.

Our online research revealed that we could still get to the Halles covered market in time for some shopping, so off we set. Our route took us past the St Jean tower, with a square full of cafes and restaurants in front.

The market itself has an unusual facade, a wall of vegetation.

Inside, masses of enticing stalls. As Diana commented, you really shouldn’t go shopping when you’re hungry. We bought far too much, and definitely patronized potato heaven. Atkins go hang!

After shopping, we went in search of a flea market that we had read about. But it was nowhere to be found. We did see this attractive church, though, possibly St Pierre d’Avignon. When we got back to the boat and consulted the internet again, we found that the flea market is tomorrow morning, not today. The wind shows no sign of abating until Monday, so it looks as if we will be here tomorrow. If so, we will check it out.