My Mam and Granma arrive!

 Hello!

 At the end of my second week of classes in Avignon, my mother arrived to see me. My grandmother would join us the next day. 

 It was amazing to see my Mam again. We had a wander around Avignon, enjoying delicious drinks at the French Coffee Shop, like we did back in Perpignan for my birthday.

 The next day my Granma arrived and the three of us headed into town to have an explore. It was a perfect day, bright but cool. We spotted fluffy owls, an elegant toy shop and some colourful macarons. 

 We passed under the umbrellas - umbrellas that were now getting a bit wonky and starting to fall apart, but which were still incredibly beautiful.

 We saw a guy doing some tricks with a diabolo.

 Next we headed into a sweet shop, which boasted some regional products as well as general favourites. We were offered free sample after free sample, and there were some real treats.

These were amazing!

 We then popped into an ice cream shop. More poor Smurfs!

 We stopped at the Place de l'Horloge for crêpes and non-alcoholic mojitos.

 We continued on to the Palais des Papes, where several musicians were performing.

"Nice weather, François."

"I agree, Pierre, it is a fine day."

 We then hopped between a handful of souvenir shops, admiring the endless lavender bags, cicadas and pottery. One particular shop really caught my attention as it was playing "Africa" by Toto and it had such a range of soaps, bath bombs and bath pearls as I hadn't seen in a long time. Although there's only a shower in my apartment, I still love looking at that kind of thing.

So adorable!

Soaps galore! They even have chocolate-scented soap!

 We reluctantly drew ourselves away from the soaps and made our way down to the river, passing a few other shops on the way.

Our cat finally made it onto a bag!

 We had some refreshing ice-creams; mine was banana and was lovely.

 As we strolled along by the Rhône, lizards darted in and out of the undergrowth, scrambling over the hot ground. They reminded me of the lizards of Perpignan.

 My Mam suggested that we do something I had been meaning to do but had never got around to, which was to catch the little ferry across the river to Barthelasse. Having only ever got the (new) bridge across, I was game, and so we stepped on board. 

 We were joined by two dogs, a big retriever-type and a Scottie, the former of which enjoyed barking at the latter. However, the little Scottie stood his ground bravely, and when we disembarked he danced off quite jollily by his owner's side, not looking any the worse for wear.

 On the island we lounged around enjoying the afternoon sun and admiring the views of the river, the old bridge and the old town. 

 Eventually we made our way to the ferry and zoomed back across the Rhône. It had been a tiring but fulfilling day, and my Mam and Granma were both very impressed with Avignon. We would have many more adventures in the days to come!

 Thanks for reading,

 Liz x