Avignon

Mary and Christopher took Eli to Avignon, seat of the late medieval popes. During the 75 minute bus ride, Eli enjoyed pointing at cars and looking at picture books. He then got to play in a park, where he saw ducks, waved at old people, and was pulled around in a horse-drawn carriage. I hope he appreciated the dramatic view of the Rhône and the papal palace, but I have a feeling he was more interested in trains. In Eli's language, train is "guh-guh," from English "chugga," which he got from his favorite bedtime book, Kevin Lewis, Chugga-Chugga Choo-Choo (2001). (He also likes the book you gave him; it's his second-favorite.) He will correct you if you use the word train: "Eli, is that a train?" "Guh-guh!" "Train?" "Guh-guh!" Anything that could possibly be considered a train, Eli points to and says "guh-guh." This is great in southern France, where every town has a petit train touristique.

Besides the park, Eli got to tour the northern part of Avignon, near the papal palace. He had a yummy lunch and delighted passers-by with his toddler antics. Ally and I were worried that he would not get a chance to nap, but we are told he caught a few winks on his uncle's shoulder and in the stroller. Today was sunny and bright, but there was a stiff breeze in the heights of Avignon. Mary and Christopher judged that the wind made venturing onto the famous Pont d'Avignon too perilous to risk with baby and stroller. The bridge goes nowhere, so not much was missed.



We were pleased that Eli had such a good day with his aunt and uncle. This is the kind of experience we really want him to have with our visitors. Ally had another good day at the archive and I got a lot done on my project.

For dinner, Mary made a sort of frittata, which was excellent. We got the vegetables from a really good produce stand near our apartment. We walked over to Ally's favorite creperie for dessert. It's in an unlikely spot: an underground passage near the Rotonde. But it's excellent. Eli had his first bites of dessert crepe and loved it! He was pretty fussy at bedtime but, when the time actually came, he went off to sleep pretty easily.