In the Footsteps of the Romans: Avignon

In Avignon, we are staying in an Air BNB just outside the city walls and walking a lot! It’s a joy to escape to our wisteria and jasmine graced deck out of the tourist areas. It’s also a joy to have discovered a local, suburbanish bakery with delightful treats, which we haven’t yet topped in any tourist area. It was important to have an outside get away in this stay and we do have that for sure! Our hosts live above and it’s the first time we have actually chosen this and it is wonderful. Isabella and Stephane greeted us and showed us our lovely home away from home for the next two weeks. Their stunning back yard makes the walk to the old town so worthwhile

The city wall is almost entirely intact, ancient and impressive. And of course, Avignon is famous for its 1/2 bridge and children’s song, “sur le pont d’Avignon, on y danse, on y danse, sur le pont d’Avignon, on y danse tout en rond” translation: on the bridge in Avignon, we will dance, we will dance, on the bridge in Avignon we will dance all together in a circle. First year French students and school children all over France learn this song, how delightful it was to sing it atop the real bridge, Pont St. Benezet. The bridge itself with its drawbridge is impressive for its age and its history. Built between 1171 and 1185, the bridge was the inspiration of St. Benezet (not a a saint at the time). Legend has it that he had a vision in which God told him to build a bridge across the Rhône River, still a mighty, powerful, and strategic river in Europe for commerce. Scholars are studying how it was actually constructed through digitization, poring through historical documents, recreating the conditions under which it was built, and trying to uncover its secrets. The views and the video showing the archaealogical study of its construction are well worth the visit.

Avignon was also the home of the Popes for nearly a century. Between 1309 and 1403, there was a Pope in Avignon, sometimes the only one and sometimes not. Apparently, Rome had gotten a little to dangerous for the Papacy, and they skeedaddled to Avignon where they had the protection of the French king. The Palais de Papes is topped with a beautiful gold statue of Mary. The rooms are bare and alas, the coffers are too since the French Revolution. However, well worth a visit as you are equipped with a handy IPad which illustrates how the rooms looked in its glory.