Our plan was to get to Avignon, France for dinner. We were interested in the Palais-des-Papes: an enormous “palace” built for the Catholic Popes who were no longer safe in Italy. They moved to France for about 70 years in the 14th century and ruled with an iron fist from there. The Palace of the Popes symbolizes the church’s omnipresent influence throughout the Christian world back in the day. The Popes’ Palace is the biggest Gothic palace in all of Europe. But first, we were hungry! Used to Spanish culture, food and language, it was up to me to remember my high school French in order to feed the family.

See:  Palace of the Popes

Above: Walking about the town of Avignon and inside the “Palace of the Popes”. Sophia and Oliver found a pile of ancient cannonballs inside the castle – OMG.

After a morning of croissants and cafe creme, touring and shopping, we loaded up the Fiat and headed north and east through the French Alps. We crossed the boarder into Italy while deep inside some incredibly long tunnels. The tolls on the tunnels in the Alps were astounding, the tunnels themselves miracles of architecture and engineering. Worth every penny as we marveled our way through them. We then drove through the Italian Alps which are every bit as pretty as those on the French side. Even the rest stops are lovely! We felt like characters in the Sound of Music.

Driving through the Alps was a treat. We brought a few balls to throw around whenever we could, and there always seemed to be time for a game of pass. 

We blew through a quick overnight in Torino (+ pizza, pasta and delicious wine) and blasted on to our next destination… LAKE GARDA!