Jeremy and I have been in Avignon for about a week now, and we’re really enjoying the historic town. We’re staying in an Airbnb in a seriously perfect location right next to La Place des Corps-Saints (the best Place in town in our opinion), the town is small enough that you can walk everywhere, there are tons of alleyways to explore, and the pace of life is nice and slow. I’ve gotten some nice runs in, and we’ve seen a lot of what the town has to offer. I don’t know if this is the case for everyone or if it was just because my mom is French, but I grew up with my mom singing me “Sur Le Pont D’Avignon” all the time, and now each day when we walk by the bridge, I get the song stuck in my head. Here’s a children’s video of the song in case you haven’t heard it (which is apparently very popular, 3.5 million views!):

One of our favorite things to do has been to visit the indoor market Les Halles and get makings for a picnic (because you guys know how much we love picnics) and go sit across the Rhone River with a view of the town and eat our food. Avignon has had some pretty nice weather, but it has been getting pretty windy quickly (thanks to Le Mistral, the infamous wind that often takes over Provence), and although there have been blue skies pretty much all the time, there have been a few sudden rainstorms as well (seemingly as soon as we step foot outside the apartment). When the weather is perfect and surely not going to rain, we have been stopping into Les Halles and buying cheese, bread, and dessert for our lunch. It’s a really fun place to wander around and try testers that the vendors are handing out. You can buy pretty much anything you need there, including produce, seafood, baked goods, herbs, olives, flowers, prepared foods, meat, cheese, wine, etc. And there are cooking demonstrations anyone can attend for free every day at 11:00am. The market is open every day except Monday from 6am-1:30pm on weekdays, and 6am-2pm on weekends (we still haven’t gotten used to it closing so early).

I think Avignon is a great stop for anyone visiting Provence, which is a beautiful region of France everyone should see at least once (in my humble opinion). And Les Halles is an absolute must once you’re in the town that dates back to the 12th century.