This morning, for no apparent reason, WordPress reposted two old posts from a trip we did to Italy 3 years ago. 🤷‍♀️. There’s been an app update but I’m not sure these two random events are related!

Sorry for any confusion and here’s some Karaka Bay locals!!

Unfortunately due to the weather our trip to the Isle of May was cancelled so we had an unexpected full day in Edinburgh to fill. So we climbed things!

We started the day be heading to Holyrood Park, near the Palace and Scottish Parliament for a climb up Arthur’s Seat. John, mindful of his knee did a lower path to Salisbury Crag, while I did the main path to Arthur’s Seat. I figured out the last time I’d been up it was probably 1990 and it was January, foggy and there was no view!

But it was a clear day and so the views over the city, over the Firth of Forth and out to the coast were expansive. And everyman and their dog (literally: there were a lot of dog walkers as well as tourists) was there.

After lunch and a celebratory drink in The Dome, once a bank headquarters built in 1847 but now a flash bar, I climbed the Scott Monument in Princes Street. I didn’t realise that you could but there was a wee kiosk next to it that we had seen the previous day and so I couldn’t resist! So that provided another different perspective on things.

We are at Edinburgh Airport now having visited the City Art Centre near Waverley Station to fill in our morning. Stumbled on an exhibition by a British artist called Victoria Crowe which was great.

So here’s a few views of Edinburgh from our adventures yesterday.

Yesterday we caught the train from Johnstone, on the western edge of Paisley, where my cousin lives and near where my mum was from, via Glasgow to Edinburgh. Today we had booked to go to the Isle of May, off North Berwick to see puffins but unfortunately the run if good weather ended and our trip was cancelled, and so today instead, we were in Edinburgh.

So, looking for new soots this morning we headed for Dean Village and Leith Walk, a quiet, green enclave next to Water of Leith near Stockbridge, not far from the city centre. It’s cute and interesting but the dreaded Instagram effect meant it was full of folk wielding cameras and phones! The weather wasn’t great either. Anyway, having found Dean village we had a look about, then followed Leith Walk past St Bernard’s well down to Stockbridge where we found a Sunday market in full swing. If you were staying in Edinburgh and could self-cater it would be great: fresh bread, cheeses, meats, veges etc.

We walked back via Circus Lane, another cute location we stumbled on full of phone wielding folk taking selfies.

So here’s some of Edinburgh that’s not the Castle or tartan!

The weather was still hot for our trip to Glasgow – we had decided to visit the Riverside Museum, the museum of transport, which is beside the River Clyde, a half an hour or so’s walk from the main shopping area at Buchanan Street. First though, we revisited the Lighthouse, a little design museum tucked down a lane off Buchanan Street. We’d been before, but I wanted to climb the tower for the views over the city roof tops.

Then, after lunch we headed along the river, past the redeveloped area near the Finnieston Crane and finally got to the museum, which is in a modern Zaha Hadid-designed building on the river. We spent about an hour there, wandering through the exhibits (scary when things you remember from childhood are in a museum!). There were some interesting social history exhibits including one with film footage from Glasgow’s dancehalls in the 1950s – my parents met that way.

So here’s a little bit of Glasgow!

The weather just continued to get hotter: it was in the mid to high 30s on our last day in Avignon so we decided to visit the Palais des Papes to at least be inside in shade. Unfortunately we didn’t get there as early as we planned: we had an early wander down the rue des Teinturiers (the old textile dyers street still with water wheels) and then headed to the market to get supplies for lunch. By the time we got to the Palais there were several large tour groups ahead of us. But once we were inside it wasn’t too bad.

The rooms of the Palais are essentially empty; but you have a tablet which shows using a 3D program what the rooms would have been like and explains how they were used. And the scale of some of the rooms is vast! Some rooms retain their frescos – my favourite was the stag room, which was decorated with a huge 360 degree hunting mural which is still quite complete – aside from one wall where some 18th century renovator decided to insert a chimney! Unfortunately no photography was allowed in the frescoed rooms but the visit did take you up to the roof terrace of the Palais!

We hibernated again in the heat of the afternoon – after a lunch of 🦐 from the market.

Yesterday was a travel day: train from Avignon to Marseille airport then flight to Glasgow. Which sounded straightforward but was a bit more pfaffing than expected. And the budget airline terminal (we were on Easyjet) at Marseille was basic: air con but no carpet so not the most comfortable wait! Anyway, we made it after some minor delays caused by air traffic control industrial action to find that for the next few days Scotland will be unseasonably warm!

We arrived in Elderslie, near Glasgow to stay with my cousin for a few days yesterday afternoon – and discovered Scotland is unseasonably warm as well! So taking advantage of reliable internet to catch up.

Here’s the last few shots from our day trip to the Camargue: the towns of Saintes Maries de la Mer and Aigues Mortes. Saintes Marie is a small, tourist-oriented town by the sea – which seems to be aimed mainly at european tourists. The beach, by our standards was a bit tame but on a really hot day there were folk enjoying a dip. We didn’t have the local delicacy of Camargue beef stew, but a gelato instead!

This is the only place we’ve ever encountered a Saint Sarah!

Aigues Mortes was also a tiny town still with it’s ancient defensive walls. It was apparently built by one of the French kings as his departure point for his crusade. Now you can walk the ramparts for views out to the salt pans.

Yesterday we took a mini bus tour to the Camargue: the Rhone river delta south of Avignon. It’s flat, marshy and agricultural – lots of the local fruit and veg comes from there. It is also the only place in Europe there are flamingoes, and we visited a park to see them – a bit like a French Zealandia – and we saw heaps of other birds and the odd critter too.

Then we were off to St Marie de la Mer, which is right on the Mediterranean coast, for lunch and a stroll (it was too hot for the local speciality of beef stew so we had a gelato instead), and finally we visited Aigues-Mortes, a small walled town next to the Camargue salt pans. All very interesting. Along the way we saw some of the local camargue black bulls: while bull fighting is big in this part of the world (St Marie had a small arena of the waterfront with statues of famous bulls outside) they use bulls from Spain – the Camargue bulls are apparently for eating! We also got to see some of the local white horses at a manade (ranch/farm) – horse trekking is big here too.

Internet being slow – so here are a few flamingoes and I’ll post the rest of the trip later!

Today will be our second full day in Avignon. We got here on Friday evening after Jackie dropped us back at the Nice Railway station. It was a pleasant and fast TGV ride from Nice to here of around 3 1/2 hours along the coast and then through very dry looking countryside.

The apartment we booked is a little rustic, but the location is great: in an old building in the heart of the old city, close to the Palais des Papes. There is no shortage of choice for places to eat, and the fresh food market is less than 5 minutes away.

Friday night was midsummer, and Avignon had a party: lots of live music, people everywhere, all the bars and restaurants busy. We could still hear folk out and about until the wee hours. Yesterday was quite a bit quieter!

We went for a wander to the market yesterday but had a mostly quiet day reading, catching up on washing, chilling out. When it got marginally cooler around 6pm we went for a wander through the old town to the river and the historic bridge.

Planning more exploration today. I’d post more photos but WordPress is refusing to play ball: it’s Sunday and perhaps the kiddies of Avignon are on the internet. In the meantime here’s the historic Ponte di Avignon and some lavender.