We arrived in Avignon by train, late in the evening. After the Paris Biennale, our next stop was La Mirande hotel, for the night. By local standards, we were late for dinner – luckily, Regis Mathieu, who was hosting us at the hotel, had advised the kitchen that a few very hungry folks would be arriving at said late evening. The owner of the hotel was also waiting for us. I honestly did not know what to expect. The extent of my knowledge was the Wikipedia page I’d read while I was still in India. Avignon is famous for Palais des Papes or The Palace of The Popes. The hotel we were going to be spending the night in, La Mirande, was supposed to be sharing a cobbled street with the walls of the palace.
And so it was! Tired and hungry, dinner and wine, done. Had to go for a quick short walk around to see what it looked like. Photos happened. Had an early morning the next day, so couldn’t really spend time photographing the night sky and timelapses but would love to go back and get that done some day. It is a beautiful town / city and a wonderful hotel. The food is great, there’s tons of vintage accessories in use all over the hotel – including door knobs in the rooms, the locally produced ceramics that they sell was most beautiful and delicate – I wish I had the space to carry some back, the plate of plums on my writing table in the room was most fabulous. I was stuffed with dinner ( the fish OMG! ) else would’ve polished off the entire plate. Chef Pietravalle Florent has done a wonderful job with the menu at La Mirande. And you can’t go wrong with French wines. I didn’t go with the suggested food-wine pairing though – white wine with fish. I really wanted to drink as much red as I could!
Dinner done. Time for a short walk around the hotel. It is in the heart of Avignon. It was late in the night, so not much was happening, but it looked like a busy part of town.
Some photographs of the room I was staying in. It also had a little terrace, which I woke up to and caught the sunrise from. Everything about the place was quaint and marvelous. Including the plants on the terrace. I wish I knew how to fold a square porch umbrella though, would’ve definitely left the camera out overnight shooting timelapses.
Sunrise time! View from the terrace of my room at the hotel. I stayed in Room no. 35.
Time for breakfast and a quick walk through the hotel before we leave Avignon for Gargas.
A quick walk around the same part of town around the hotel during the day. The sky was so blue, I had to bump down the saturation to make it look “real”! Don’t miss the cobbled streets. Both Regis and Alexis were experts in navigating the car through the narrow streets of Avignon.
And it is time to go. The following were photographed as I was strapped in the passenger seat in the car as Alexis drove through and from Avignon onto Gargas.
Photograph below is of the original ramparts – the original wall of Avignon – that is still surrounding the city.
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