Layover

June 22, 2025

Happy news. The breakfast attendant must have a different position, but be pulling double duty. She asked us if everything was good with our room. I politely, but clearly let her know it was not okay! End of story is we now have a new room on the first level next to the bicycles! We don’t have a view, but the AC works. We did keep our fan as insurance. The helpful woman said that they were full last night, but a man emailed and said he was unable to travel, which freed up a room. She said rooms 54 and 44 have known AC problems. There’s some sort of blockage in the ductwork. 44 has an old couple (her words) who don’t mind the heat. Perhaps that’s why they gave this old couple 54? Whatever the case, we are now in 11.

Jacinto has canceled his bike ride and we are walking the ramparts - 4.3 km. We’d better get going! It’s hot out there. But now we have AC.

I think a factor is that we weren’t rude, either last night or this morning. My opinion is that you get much further with politeness than being rude.

Afternoon update -

That didn't play out as expected. We had all sorts of conflicting information. The desk clerk said we could access the ramparts all over, here just take this map. The internet said 4.3 km of ramparts. Did it say I could walk them? I sure thought so? The Palace's own website said closed on Sunday. Yet, there were eight (I counted) tour buses parked just outside of the city gates. What were they touring, if not the Palace?

We went to the old bridge, which we had seen last night. It's 5 E to walk the portion of the bridge that still exists. I was not at all interested, unless it would get me started on walking the ramparts. We asked an attendant at the bridge. The ramparts are closed, except for this small section. It's far too dangerous for people to walk on them! I feel as if I don't have anyone to blame buy myself. I came all this way to walk the ramparts, and it's not a choice. I was berating myself, and Jacinto offered up his lost 200 E in comparison. I told him I thought this was a bigger error. I would have been happy to see Barbantane instead, if I had known I couldn't walk the ramparts. As a consolation prize, we did pay our 5 E to walk out on the bridge. We walked every single inch possible to get our money's worth. We window shopped a little bit, bought some nougat, picked a place to eat for dinner that opens at 6 PM.

I suggested we could try and book a river cruise, maybe even take the train ride around, or see if the Palace is actually open for tours. Jacinto said what he would rather do is go for a bike ride. He had three lined up on Komoot. Okay. That works for me. I was already sweating heavily. We walked past a man who had a hand held spray/mister/fan combo. I think that looks like a fine idea. I should bring one next roasting trip. Maybe I can somehow find one along the way before we get to Venice.

Jacinto was ready to leave at 1 PM/90 degrees. Our room was pleasantly cool, but we still had the fan going. I was set for a few hours of internet surfing - I might even start a new book!

The same woman who facilitated our room change knocked on the door. She wanted to fill the shampoo. She asked if we were using the fan, as it wasn't their's, but borrowed from the hotel next door. I replied we would like to keep it, if that's okay. A half hour or so later, the same young man from last night came and said he needed to collect the fan to return it. Which is not quite the same as asking if we were using it. That's fine. The AC is probably okay. Now it feels a little odd to be going round about the fan. Perhaps the woman could have phrased things differently. I told the young man I appreciated his getting the fan, it made all of the difference last night. He replied that he grew up here, and the temperature overnight was difficult even for him. Now we have AC, but no supplemental fan.

I've ben watching Jacinto's dot on his Strava link he sent. So far he is still moving. He should be enjoying riding, without panniers. He declined to take a pump or patch kit. He said he'd give me a call for a pick up if he has a flat. Jacinto is such a jokester. I told him he might have trouble hitching a ride, with the language barrier. I guess there's always Uber?

This is confusing. See the giant Hotel Palais Des Papes sign? It would appear to be our hotel, indeed, the Grampies checked it out for us. Our hotel is a block away. Same name. Far, far smaller sign.

We took an evening stroll to the old bridge last night. The evening light casts a nice glow on the old stone walls.

There aren’t many people out in the heat. That works for us.

It wasn't until I looked at this photo on my computer that I saw all of the birds flying around. That's a sunset bonus!

Our new bathroom has just a shower. I don’t have to worry about getting in and out of the narrow tub safely.

It’s a 12 jammer and one Nutella breakfast. I’ve tried to explain the jammer definition to Jacinto. I think he’s being stubborn that it depends on how many jams there are, not the overall breakfast quality. This had all of the usual components, plus hot scrambled eggs, and bacon. But somehow to my definition, it’s still maybe a 7 on the jammer scale

There was a small Sunday procession in front of the church.

I enjoy finding interesting small details. Bicycle speed is perfect for details. Check out this gate handle.

Looking back towards town from the old bridge.

We found a nougat shop! Remembering the Grampies fondness for nougut, we purchased two. Fig and another one that I don’t remember the ingredients. Buying specialty candy is always a shock to the pocketbook. Last year our chocolate turtles in Waterton Lakes was the splurge. Here, two skinny slices of nougat was 32E.

The view from our far too roasting 5th floor room.

Look up, up, and there might be interesting intricacies.

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John McKelly 32 Euros for nougat! Wow. I thought I was the only one complaining about the price of candy!

Back here in Cali Trader Joe's increased the price of 500grms (17.3 ounces) of a milk chocolate bar from $5.99 to $9.99 over the last 8-10 months. They brought the price back down to $7.99. Alas the Honey Crisp apples have gone from $1.29 to $1.99 or 54% increase in the last few weeks.
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