Bridges and Bonbons, Day Two in Provence

Today when we woke up, we took our time getting dressed and ready before heading downstairs for breakfast. We were at that time the only people staying at the b&b so we had it to ourselves. There was some bread, yogurt, eggs, milk, juice, tea, coffee, and Hot Chocolate. We ate a nice big breakfast and hit the road towards Avignon. When we arrived there, we started by going to the Papal Palace. We parked in the garage and headed towards the palace. This was, for about seventy years, the home to six popes. The french king once bribed all the cardinals to vote for a French pope, who the king bribed into leaving the Vatican City Rome and coming here to Avignon. During the time the Palace was used, they had a new pope in Rome too. There were rivaling popes! When we entered the palace we bought our tickets (for the palace and the Pont d'Avignon) and went inside. We were told not to take photos in any of the rooms in which there were remaining frescoes. It was built in the gothic style andd you could certainly tell. When it was originally built, it was just a little more then half its current size, but each pope built more onto the great palace. We saw studies and chapels, dining halls and kitchens, along with bedrooms, and private and council chambers. Many of the rooms were much barer then intended because of fires and sieges. there were also many some grand courtyards and a treasury. We looked at and read about the rooms and it was pretty cool. I think the treasury was my favorite, where there was a spot in the floor to lift up heavy stone slabs to go under the floor to the treasure. There were many coins that people had thrown in. We eventually left the palace and walked to the famous Pont d'Avignon, the bridge to nowhere. There was supposedly originally a wooden bridge there, which was later replaced with the current stone one. Originally it had 22 arches, but now it only has four and still spans most of the river, it amazes me to think how long it might have once been. Also on the bridge, there is a small chapel devoted to Saint Nicholas. It has a pretty statue of Mary inside it. We left the bridge and walked back to the parking garage where we parked. We got back in the car and went in the direction of the town of Uzes. The main sights there are the tower which is like the tower in Pisa but not leaning and not as tall. And the Duche's palace. Great name huh? I made a point of it to take photos of each thing that was named with the name Duche. We did not see the tower, but we did see the palace from the outside. But having just seen the popes palace it was small and not as spectacular. We went around and checked out some of the local shops. After we did so, we went to a little cafe for lunch. We each got a tasty sandwich and sat in the square in the middle of town. Afterwards we went out of town to the Musee de Bonbon, Haribo's French headquarters where they have a museum. Griffin was very excited. We first walked through a gate with a golden Haribo boy on it, then took pictures with the boy, bear, and other assorted gummies. We walked inside and bought our tickets and headed inside. When we got them, the people behind the counter gave mom and dad a huge hadful of gummie packets. We started on the top floor, where immediately upon entering we were given candy by a man at the door. We looked at Haribo ads and candies on this floor. We also saw old Haribo vending machines. We walked down to the next floor and learned about the different types of sugar, and saw a picture of the Haribo boy dancing with the sugar, he was on a big sugar rush. I also learned that gelatin comes form animals, mostly their fat. We walked into a room full of games that were supposed to show you how Haribo is made, though really they were just kind of strange. Trying to drive a virtual forklift, or pick up a little box with a mechanical arm. We left that room and went to the next floor and left the building. We crossed a bridge over a little stream and learned about the minty drink that they make. We saw workers making some and we saw a very big bottle. After that we went back to the main building and checked out some more stuff, were given some more candy and saw how Haribo got its name. It was founded by HAns RIegel in BOnn, Germany. Cool, huh? We theen went into the basement where we saw some old machines that were once used to make Haribo. We also got to see the packaging machine in action, we got some candy out of it! From both of the two machines, we got a total of 21 packs of candy. We left the museum and went into the Haribo store, where people were leaving with boxes full of candy. The prices there were fantastic! We got a few more bags of gummies to go with the free ones we had gotten, we also got a Haribo grocery bag to put them in. We then went into the parking lot where there were many inflatables, along with some trampolines. We had each gotten a ticket to do one at the museum, and it was a good chance for Griffin to get the energy out. Hailey and I did not want ours and so we gave them to another family when we left. We got back in the car and drove towards the famous Pont du Gard, and ancient Roman aqueduct that took water to the city of Nime. The bridge is still completely intact and until 1998, it was still used as a road bridge. We walked on tthe bridge and took pictures for a while then headed out. We stopped at the gift shop on the way out and I got a T-shirt to wear at the gift shop. We got back in the car and went back towards Avignon. We got back to our b&b and unloaded our candy. We went back to Saint Remy for dinner again and tried a different restaurant this time. I got a pasta with chicken. We had a tasty dinner and headed home for the night. I'll post again soon.

a do not enter man in the parking garage

the popes palace

more popes palace

griffin outside the popes palace

in the palace courtyard

a wall of the palace

cool window at the palace

the other courtyard

a model of the palace

an oven near the treasury

ceiling of the treasury

window in the treasury

the slabs covering the treasure

the fireplace in the dining hall

the ceiling in the dining hall

tall spire in the kitchen where meats were once stored

former entrance to a private bridge for the pope only

in the chapel

entrance to chapel

cool window

plaque recognizing the king's visit to the palace

the pont d'Avignon

the chapel on the bridge

view of the palace from the bridge

duche

more duché

even more duche

pain pastries

le bistrot du duché

uzes central square

lunch

the palace du duché

hey look more duchy

the golden gate of Haribo

the boy (with a random person in front of it)

CANDY!!!!!!

a map of Haribo's factories in Europe

Haribo clothes?

vending machines

sugar rush!!!!!!!!!

giant mint drink bottle

candy machines

the machine that gave us lots of candy

the Haribo store with good prices

goodbye Haribo

the amazing pont du gard

a cool tree outside the pont du Gard