Adventures with Gui: Avignon

My friend Gui picked me up today and we headed over to Avignon for lunch.  Here is Gui, looking all French and saucy with his telephone:

We went to a restaurant whose name, when translated, is "The Little Square Cow."  Their logo might help you understand that better.

This block pattern is apparently a thing.  It was a really cute little restaurant.  I decided to act with couth and not take a picture of the dining area or the food (though I didn't refrain from pulling cash out of my bra later), but for lunch I ordered roasted duck in this creamy cheese sauce with potato wedges sprinkles with herbes de Provence.  It was absolutely the best meal I've ever had in France.  It was one of those meals that makes you less concerned about untimely death, because you realize it's probably not going to get much better than this anyway.

Lunch was filled with witty banter.  Gui made fun of American breakfast habits, and I knocked soccer.  After all that and a bottle of wine, we went to check out the city. The architecture was all extremely old and interesting.

There's some sort of castle that Gui said the Pope lived in for fifty or so years several centuries back.  Catholic influence is obvious:

We saw a little bit of the inside, but admission was ridiculously expensive and I didn't think this castle was as cool as the last one.  Gui snapped a photo for me just inside the entrance.

Fun fact:  these little sitting areas were all over the last castle, too.  Apparently they were heavily used in winter when it was too cold to go outside, but people still wanted to get sunlight.  I imagine it still must have been rather cold to sit there, though, because the areas aren't positioned to get any heat from fireplaces.  

The hill that the castle is situated on offered some really nice views of the city.

After a leisurely walk around Avignon, we decided to head on over to St. Remy, where we strolled around and then decided to get some tea and coffee at an outdoor cafe so that we could do some good people watching.  Gui's friend from school stopped by for a drink and told us about how she's been working with American celebrities lately-- she facilitates vacation rentals for super extravagant apartments.  St. Remy is where incredibly rich people vacation.  She said she rented an apartment to Sarah Jessica Parker a few weeks ago.

So adventuring with Gui was a great success.  Except all food that I taste from now on will probably fail to live up to that duck dish I had today.  C'est la vie.