tourvideos.com/ Exploring on foot the Old Town of Avignon, main city of Provence in the south of France. Enter the Porte du Rhône gate through the town wall then turn right at Rue Grande Fusterie, with some of its picturesque old houses from the 15th century. At the end, turn right, then left to Place Crillon, site of an excellent hotel you might consider for your visit, Hotel d'Europe. This is four-star deluxe but has some moderately-priced rooms, especially in the off-season. With many fine hotels in all price ranges, and strategic location, Avignon makes an excellent home base for visiting this Provençal region. Another hotel you might consider is the Mercure. It's right in the heart of town just between the bridge in the main square and it's a very comfortable three star hotel - part of the vast Accor chain of French hotels, and we found it was a very nice place. Very clean, very modern very friendly. Stroll one block over to Rue Joseph Vernet, perhaps the prettiest street in town, lined with lovely shops, galleries and restaurants. This street is really at its best late in the day and early twilight - when you have that magical combination of streetlights, shop fronts, busy people out walking and lingering twilight in the sky. It's good . The shops stay open throughout the day, although some close in the midafternoon for a brief siesta - we're still in the south of Europe, after all. And at night stays quite lively. It's very safe spot - 10 o'clock, 11 o'clock at night, because the shop will be closed, usually by about 8 o'clock, but the restaurants, cafés and bars are open, so to be sure to pay several visits to this wonderful Rue Joseph Vernet. Be sure to walk a few blocks up and down Rue St. Agricol, a classic side-street which offers a similar environment of pleasant shops and leads to the main square of town, Place de l'Horloge. Notice how they have iron posts to protect the pedestrians from the automobiles, because this busy street is open to traffic, and yet remains very safe because of the design. There is a rich variety of types of shops here and throught the town center. Next, walk over to the busy main street of town, Rue de la République, where you will find the Tourist Information Office, and really the main collection of shops and people. Be sure to visit this information office and get their free "Welcome to Avignon" brochure with descriptions of the major sites and an extremely useful map that provides four walking routes to follow while you are exploring the city. The tourist bureau has put colored arrows on the sidewalks coordinated with the map to help keep you on track.

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