This morning Kim drug us all out of bed at an ungodly hour to jump on a fast train to Orange.  Ok, ok it was worth it, dammit.

We spent the morning touring the finest and largest remaining Roman amphitheater in the world, where they still present major opera and theatre productions today.  That place is HUGE. Not, "oh, my, I would hate to vacuum that" huge, its "crap Im getting vertigo just looking up at it huge!"  The pics I took just cant covey the scale of this place. 

Take a look here for more details:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Th%C3%A9%C3%A2tre_antique_d%27Orange

For luncheon we opted for a little cafe set up inside of a grotto carved under the amphitheater, 16Euro for a 3 piece meal!

Quick cured salmon on a roasted sweet pepper, small rocket salad and citrus creme to start.
Roast pork loin in pastry with a pork juice reduction and roast veggies with herb d' Provence,
Apple clafoutis with a light raspberry and caramel sauce, and a few small chocolate dots.
(Khoni opted for an amazing Parmesan risotto, wow...)

Add in a very reasonable bottle of red wine and great food was had by all!

After lunch we wandered through town to a Roman triumphal arch, a hell of a walk but a damn impressive ruin.

Quick train (17 mins) back to Avignon and we are now at the apartment pondering red wine choices.

Here is a quick pic of the main living space in the apartment.  One of 3 "salons" on the street side of the place.  Huge windows, amazing details.

Well after 15 hours on the planes and an amazingly easy hour private taxi ride from Avignon(was cheaper that 6 train tickets!) we are in the apartment at last.

The flights were easy, not a whole lot bad nto say about anything except KCI sucks!

Apartment is incredible.  Posting doesn't do the size of this place justice, its gigantic.  My best guess is somewhere over 2000 square foot, with 18 foot ceilings and original 18th century floor and plaster moldings. 

This will not suck!

Crap!  Tomorrow!

We leave the house 1030ish and then spend the next 15 hours traveling to get to our apartment 24 hours after we leave.

Damn time zones...

6 days?  Really!?!

 Didn't we start the planning 18 months out so people would have plenty of time to save funds and get their ducks in the appropriate rows?  Well my ducks are scattered to the 4 winds and I'm pretty much assuming that Nita and I will be wandering around Avignon like stunned kittens for a few days after landing.

Stressing baggage weight limits, clothing, meds, etc.  Im sure things will get much. much better once we get through the weekend.  I tend to stress terribly up the the point there is nothing more I can do and then I embrace the cool tranquility of the inevitable...

Excited as a sugared up 5 year old!