("SUR LE PONT D'AVIGNON"....)

Hello .. (greetings from Jessica and Yehuda)

Yehuda is typing, the brackets are Jessicas comentaries from bed (even though we are writing together).

Waking up at 6am after not napping the day before, which was busy, is not easy to do. But we made it to the station on time, got on the right train to Avignon. I caught some sleep on the train (while Jessica stayed up to make sure we didnt miss our stop). We arrived in Avignon and took the bus to the old city, which is surrounded by a brick wall dating back to the 1300's. It was useless when it was built because the way it was built and the defence options for the city were outdated at the point in time for the wars that were waged in that era. But it is still beautifull to see. We walked straight to the Tourism office, got our maps and information and walked to our hotel. Dropping off our luggage we headed out to the bus station to catch a bus that wasnt there because of the school holidays. So instead we took the nxt bus headed to Carpentras.

Carpentras is a small old village in Provence, that has the oldest shul in operation in all of France. It was built in the 1300's and was almost entirely destroyed many times, but the jews kept rebuilding it and everything is still there from the 1700's. It was absolutely magnificent. It even had a mikvah and bakery for matza but they were under renovations so we couldnt see it.

I was on the hunt for Truffles. Truffles are worth their weight in gold. A truffle is a mushroom that grows under ground, it is grows in a very short season and the best fresh black truffles grow in the Provence region of France, or right outside Carpentras. They are extreamly expensive and can run up to hundreds of thousands of dollars for 1 kilogram.

Another thing we were looking for is a postcard from every city I visit. While buying postcards, as friendly as she always is, made a new friend. (I was asking her about where to find the specialty of the region, (berlingot - hard candy), and of course Yehuda piped in asking if she knew where to buy truffles). She was really nice and shows us a very good shop to buy the candies and then took us to a bucherie where she knew the owners, and knew they had some hidden away. I bought 16 grams of this culinary delight, and they even packaged it up for us so it would last the flight to Toronto with jessica until I can cook with it (another reason for yehuda to come home).

We were very excited.

We went back to the candy store to buy the Berlingots, when we bumped into the helpfull woman again, who had baught us antoher Carpentras specialty as a gift. (Also on the way to the shop she gave us a tour and histroy lesson about the city, our very own tour guide complete with souvenier). We had a quick lunch and headed back to Avignon.

Our afternoon in Avignon was spent with a fabulous tourguide named Jessica, (yep thats me). She took us through the streets explaining the sites as we went along with her trusty map she got from the tourism office. We found a shul there but it was closed. But most importantly we.....(SUR LE PONT D'AVGINON, ON Y DANCE .... ON Y DANCE ON Y DANCE) .. yup we went and danced on the famous brigde of avignon, which is only a half a bridge..and I have the video to prove it..(against my better judgement)...but dont worry its not going on facebook or youtube). We went to dinner at a place recommended buy the travel book I have, called La Fourchette. The food there was delicious and we met some nice people from Miami Florida, who are going to come to my restaurant tomorrow for New Years dinner. Just in case anyone is wondering I had Lamb Tripes and Lamb trotter for dinner (that is lamb feet and lamb stomache lining/GROSSSSSS!!!!) Then we walked by the Palais de Pape to see the lights and we went to bed. (p.s. Best shower with the best pressure ina hotel ever)

Today we woke up around 7 to head the market. It reminded us of st. Lawrence market in Toronto, and I gave my number to someone who might be able to help me stage somewhere for a month.

We then went to tour the Palais De Pape, which basically is a massive ginormous castle that the popes used to live in starting in the 13th century. It is mindboggling the size of the palace and what they had back in the day. With a bit of time to spare we checked out of our hotel and headed to the bus to Aix En Provence. We arrived in Aix (pronounce ex) tour guide jessica (dont know who invited her - yehuda speaking in this brakcet)(made her second appearence with her new trusty maps from the tourist office). We walked the streets getting explanations as we went, and managed to see most of the sites (I do tours in Toronto for groups up to 10 max). We went through the MArche De Noel, and because Yehuda was still infatuated with Truffles, we continued the hunt for this precious fungi. We passed a person who grows truffles and gave us samples to eat. (Probably about 5 -6 euros worth of truffles). He was even munching on them himself as if they were his afternoon snack. (did we mention how expensive they are on the market?)

We saw some really nice sights in Aix and even took the little tour bus they have that runs around the city. (I somehow lost yehuda in a bookstore while he was buying a postcard for me. Appearently its not safe to leave a chef in a store that sells cookbooks, and he found a really good book with old regional provencal recipes that was first published in 1897).

We then took the bus to the train to the metro and are finally home. (it was a double decker train and we sat on the second level, too bad it was dark and we couldn't enjoy the view).
We are exausted and heading to sleep. Tomorrow is a holiday here in France Called St. Sylvester, not sure what its for, but sounds cool. So Happy new Years every one, may 2010 be a year of good health, happiness, prosperity and true love.

Love Yehuda and Jessica (ZZZZzzzzz/just kidding but close)

From Lyon France