Sur la Pont, d'Avignon

Today, we set off at last to view the sights of Avignon. Although we had been here since Monday (three days ago now) we had been occupied elsewhere, visiting Orange, Chateauneuf-de-Pape and the pretty little Provencal villages on Tuesday, then Arles yesterday.

So it was only today that we had the opportunity to take in the sights of Avignon. We went first to the biggie, the Palais des Papes in Avignon. The Palace of the Popes has indeed a special place in Catholic history. The uncertainties of the times in the 1300's drove the papacy out of Rome. The popes Clement V and John XXII then decided to settle in Avignon, creating the Avignon Papacy. Altogether, 7 Popes and 2 Antipopes resided in Avignon. The building is stark and severe, a fortress rather than a palace. Again, I suppose this reflects the uncertain times.


Whilst the Papacy returned to Rome in 1378, the Vatican retained Avignon in its possession as a Papal State, until the French Revolution. The Palace was then turned into a barracks for many years. As such, today, the Palace retains very little of the former grandeur it must have had in the days of the Popes. No furniture or hangings, or paintings. What does remain are some frescoes in some chapels and also in the Pope's bedroom. Well, the Pope may have stayed there over 600 years ago but that is still the nearest I will ever get to his bedroom. We were not allowed to take any photos, though.



We went then to the nice little church near our B&B, Eglise St Pierre. It is apparently one of the older churches in Avignon, after the cathdral Notre Dame-des-Doms. It has beautiful wooden doors, and is really ornately decorated inside.


We had lunch thereafter, at one of those little restaurants on the Place d'Horloge - definitely a tourist trap. It was a set meal with soup, a main course and dessert and I really would not recommend it to anyone. It was quite pleasant, however, watching the people in the square - particularly a little boy who was running around the place, shadowed by his anxious mother.

After lunch, we headed back to St Benezet's bridge. The bridge is only a half-bridge, with half of it destroyed by floods many years ago. Yet its fame has spread far and wide thanks to a simple little song:

"Sur le Pont d'Avignon,
on y danse,on y danse,
sur le pont d'Avignon,
on y danse tous en rond..."

St Benezet was a shepherd boy who heard voices telling him to build a bridge - he managed to convince people that he was divinely inspired when he was able to lift a huge stone that no one else could move. However, no one ever danced on the bridge because it was deemed too narrow. Rather, the people danced on the river islands on which the bridge had been built. Such is the power of song....




We wandered around the shops to buy some souvenirs after our visit to the bridge. Unfortunately, it had started to rain - an unpleasant, incessant drizzle which made it very irritating to shop. Avignon has a high street with many shops, no shopping centres per se. So in the end we made our way back to our B&B where I had some time to clear emails before going out for dinner. Dinner was at the Hotel de Palais - we ate at the restaurant hotel. It was a pleasant enough meal, but what I really liked was the fireplace in the middle of the room. It was one of those which looks like a log fire, until you notice that the logs aren't being consumed by the flames...

Looking back, it is indeed a pity that we did not have more time in Avignon. I'd have liked to have the opportunity to cross the river to visit Villeneuf le Avignon. Well, we had wanted to get to Avignon much earlier on the Monday but the trains did not allow. Likewise, we would be taking an extremely early train back to Paris the next day. So, our time in Avignon was curtailed a little more than we had initially hoped.


Here's photo link.