Avignon
From Eze we drove to Avignon - 2 hour 30 minute drive on the toll highway. The site which is now Avignon sits on the banks of the Rhone River and was originally settled in 4000 BC. Around the 2nd century BC, Avignon gains its name - Avenio, 'Lord of the River' according to a translation from the Celtic, or 'City of the Violent Wind' from the Ligurian translation (named after its famed Mistral winds). In 49 BC it becomes a Latin city. The town is now best known for its captivity of the papacy between 1309 and 1376 (when 6 popes resided at the Palace of Popes in Avignon). From 1379 to 1409, the Catholic Church was divided in its papal support (French for Clement VII and Rome for Urban VI) resulting in the Great Schism.
Our hotel, La Mirande, was immediately across the small cobblestone street from the rear of the Palace of Popes and adjacent to some old 1st century BC Roman ruins (many of the later buildings were built atop or into the existing Roman ruins in Avignon). Our hotel was nice ... however, Avignon (the old town) is not the prettiest place to stay, so if you are contemplating a trip to the region, look into smaller/cleaner towns, such as Arles or Uzes.
Our first night at La Mirande we had a delicious meal at the hotel's communal "chef's table," along with 4 other couples (the chef at La Mirande has been awarded 1 Michelin star). The next night we ate at another local 1 star Michelin restaurant, Christian Etienne. We see no reason why this restaurant was awarded a star ... the food was mostly mediocre and the service (other than the sommelier, who made a wonderful Chateauneuf du Pape recommendation and was very charming) was lackluster - in fact, one server at the end of the meal poured all of the remaining wine from the decanter into Larry's glass (when Dana's glass had less wine in it to begin with - Larry eventually dissuaded Dana from mentioning this affront to management). Our last night in Avignon, so tired of French food, we ate at a local Italian restaurant - and we ordered only 1 course!