09.24.05
Sur le pont d’Avignon…
Sur le pont d’Avignon, l’ony danse, l’ony danse
Sur le pont d’Avigno, l’ony danse, tout en rond
(On the bridge of Avignon, all are dancing, all are dancing
On the bridge of Avignon, all are dancing, round and round)
Le Pont d’Avignon. 
Avignon is perhaps best known for the song, which is remarkable given that it is a city so steeped in culture and history and was the home of the popes throughout the fourteenth century and beyond. It’s a lovely place to go for the weekend, although it was a long journey from London by train as it is quite far south and is close to the Mediterranean and Italy. I don’t regret the choice of transport though as I am trying to reduce the amount of flying (feeling guilty about all those carbon emissions) and it was a fast, efficient train service through beautiful countryside.
By Avignon, I mean the old town, that part enclosed by the medieval city walls. Beyond that it is surrounded by a ring road and car dealerships but there is no need to really venture into this part unless you are driving in or out of the city. Within the city walls, it is a classic medieval city, with narrow streets running higgledy-piggledy and charming original details such as drains in the centre of the road (so there is room for pedestrians at the sides). Although there is a long wide boulevard running through the centre of town up to the Palace of the Popes and the Town Hall, it was far more fun wandering along the back streets, despite the fact that it is rather byzantine and we got lost numerous times.
We first saw the Palace of the Popes from the rear, stumbling across it while trying to find a boulangerie (bakery) to buy our breakfast. It is absolutely enormous – a towering, immense structure of stone. Although you cannot see it from a few streets away because the density of the buildings prohibit any view, it utterly dominates the town centre. We went inside the palace and also the small museum nearby, which houses the art collection (mostly Madonna with child paintings, which I always find a little creepy because the proportions, particularly on the babies, are so wrong). The buildings themselves were really impressive and the audio commentary was indispensable for the lowdown on the history side, which was very interesting and fairly new to me. Avignon was home to the popes after the Italian civil wars forced the church to leave Rome temporarily. However, the situation is confused because at various times there were popes and anti-popes, with a pope in Avignon and a pope in Rome both claiming power.
The Palace of the Popes from the front. It was quiet when we visited on Saturday but museums in France are free on Sundays and as you can see, the queue is quite something.
Detail of window decoration in the Palace of the Popes.
The back of the Palace of the Popes.
The Cathedral of Notre Dame de Doms, next to the Palace of the Popes.
Of course, we visited the famous Avignon bridge from the children’s song. Parts of it have collapsed over the years so it now only spans half the river but it was once the main thoroughfare for the crusaders travelling to the Middle East. It had two chapels (which remain) as well as a number of inns built into and on the bridge. The legend about the construction of the bridge has a shepherd boy coming down from the mountain and declaring that he had a vision from God that there must be a bridge built in that location. The townsfolk challenged him to prove it by laying the first foundation stone – an enormous offcut from the building of the palace that no one had been able to shift. To their amazement, he picked it up easily and tossed it into the river.
View of Avignon bridge from the gardens beside the Palace of the Popes.
The Avignon bridge. To the right you can see the two chapels built into the bridge, both above and below the roadway.
Caitlin on Avignon bridge (although I was humming the song, I didn’t dance!).
Avignon was a cool place to hang out for a few days. It is a lot friendlier and relaxed in southern France compared with Paris and we enjoyed going out for meals and just wandering around the shops, as well as the more cultural highlights. But it is a small place and two days is probably enough for most people.
Avignon town hall, proudly displaying its allegiance to French revolutionary values.
Remnants from the vote on the European constitution earlier this year.
A local bar near our hotel in the old town. The name amused me for rather obvious reasons.
View of the Celestine Monastery across the river from Avignon town.
Carved stone dragon in the building opposite the palace.
I was a little puzzled why there was a British red phone booth in the centre of Avignon. It is quite different to the usual French phone booth, which is generally made of a hard, clear plastic and, funnily enough, doesn’t boast the symbol of the crown of England.
… All becomes clear. Although quite why they chose a phone booth remains a mystery.
