My 26th birthday

The day started with a late rise and a delicious fresh breakfast. Larry had gotten up early so he could have fresh croissants, fruit, coffee, and fresh-squeezed orange juice waiting for me when I got up.

In the afternoon, we drove to Collias, a town about 25km southwest of Avignon, to go canoeing down the Gardon River. (Having a car is definitely a liberating luxury, and offers a new sense of freedom to go experience Provence at will!) We arrived in Collias at about 3:30pm, and it was probably over 95 degrees out. Eagar to get cooled off in the river, we quickly paid for our 2-man kayak, got geared up, and headed out for our paddling adventure. The water of the Gardon River was surprisingly frigid, given what a torrid afternoon it was; a much-welcomed contrast for making the heat bearable.

Over the next two and a half hours, we paddled our way down the river, navigating around swimmers and other kayaks and canoes, and enjoying many refreshing swimming pauses. The river was pretty slow-moving, so the few sections of more noticeable current provided some excitement. We also found a perfect cliff for jumping into the river, which we did three or four times.

About half an hour before the end of the journey, we passed under the Pont du Gard—an impressive ancient aqueduct built by the Romans in the first century A.D. Though I’d already visited this giant structure several times on foot, seeing the bridge appear in the distance then paddling underneath it was a whole new experience. That was definitely the busiest section of the river, for obvious reasons. In fact, it was so crowded that we couldn’t avoid colliding with a group of people wading in the current! Asides from that, the afternoon was awesome and was a great outing for a bday.

At night, we went out for dinner at a restaurant on my favorite plaza of Avignon—la Place des Corps Saints. We sat outside on the tree-covered terrace, and praised every slightest hint of breeze we felt. The food was amazing—a huge fresh plate of deliciously-seasoned salad, corn, tomatoes, cucumbers, red cabbage, shredded carrots, goat cheese, vegetable pâté, ratatouille and chicken, and prosciutto, followed by a tasty mushroom, ham, and cheese pizza. After the meal we walked to the best ice-cream place in the universe, aka Amarino’s down on rue Saint Agricole, and got a nutella/hazelnut cone to share. We continued our walk to the giant ferris wheel outside of the walls, and went for a spin, which offered great views of the palace, the bridge, the fort on the other side of the river, and the rest of the city.

To finish off the warm birthday evening we met a couple friends for a drink at another terrace near the palace, and then called it a night. All in all, turning 26 was quite wonderful!

And to top it all off, I received from Larry one of the most meaningful and thoughtful presents I’ve ever gotten—a beautiful, thick, leather-bound journal, with a gold-lettered inscription on the spine which read, “Les Ecrits de Celine Clark” (The Writings of Celine Clark). Inside he had written a short note which read, “Write what comes from the deepest part of your soul. There are people waiting for you to inspire them. Happy 26^th birthday. Yours always, Larry”. Below it he added a quote by Goethe, which said, “Whatever you can do, or dream you can do, begin it; boldness has genius, power, and magic in it”. It’s my first book, waiting to be filled. And it couldn’t have been a more perfect gift.