Avallon - Strolls Around a Pretty Town

Lillian :  Avallon is a really pretty town ... a lovely place to explore.

Audrey :  This photo is from just in front of  L’église Saint-Lazare - lots of really old buildings.

Lillian :  In the background - the Clock Tower & Bell Tower behind it, they were built between 1456 & 1459.  The building in the centre is the House of the Lords Domecy - it was built in the 15thC and has recently been repaired.                     In 2007 it did look rather crumbly.

Audrey :  The Clock Tower has an arch - you walk right through it from the main shopping street.  The Tourist Office is the half-timbered 15thC building on the left  ...  and then you come to the wonderful statue of a Frog. 

I gave the Frog a kiss but it didn't turn into a statue of a Prince.




Lillian :  These beautiful tiles are on the floor of the foyer in the Tourist Office.














 And this mosaic is from Roman times - it is in the Musee Avallonaise which is well worth a visit.
















Audrey : The people of Avallon display a quirky sense of humour ...  a fallen stone gets a painted face ... the facade of a house gets a sweet squirrel over the door ...

    

Audrey :  And there are lots of cats in Avallon - 

Cat in an Attic Window

Pretending to be a tiger in the jungle

Another Cat in another window

Let Me Out!

Lillian :  All that exploring does get rather tiring - we had a sit-down on the doorstep of an old house ...

You were feeling quite tired Audrey.

Double Rhubarb - rhubarb tart and rhubarb glacée

 Audrey : Yes but I felt much better after we had a lovely lunch in the garden at Tearoom Dame Jeanne

Lillian :  The next day we explored some of the parks and jardins.  The massive War Memorial (by Pierre Vigouroux) is at the end of this park - facing L'église Saint-Martin-du-Bourg. 

Just outside the walls - under the Tour Gauchard is the Square Houdaille

And in the centre of town is Place Vauban with the statue of the Marquis - it is by Bertholdi who also created the Statue of Liberty.

 Audrey : It was spring and the gardens were full of flowers - 

Audrey in the Buttercups Ranunculus repens

Lillian and Purple Tulips

In a patch of Bluebells Hyacinthoides non-scripta

Audrey :  You were wearing your new black dress Lillian.

Lillian in her new Little Black Dress

And a Little Blackbird - he sang so beautifully.

Spring-time in Avallon