Avignon

What an exhausting day we had yesterday in temperatures of 33 degrees and possibly over! Avignon was a must for a visit because of Le Palais des Papes and the Pont d'Avignon so we decided to devote a full day to it. As it happened we should have got up and on the road much earlier than we did. We left La Motte at 9.15am (taking the same scenic route as far as Apt that we had taken on Sunday) and were on the outskirts of Avignon at a quarter to eleven. It took us three quarters of an hour to get into Avignon and find a parking place. Then we had to find the Tourist Office and get our pass which entitles us to discounts after the first site we visit. It was lunchtime before we were ready to explore! Another lovely plat du jour!

Our first stop was Le Pont Saint-Benezet (Pont d'Avignon) on our way to which we walked up Rue de la Republique.

First Irish pub we have seen so far on this trip.

La Mairie on Rue de la Republique

A Carousel on Rue de La Republique.

Theatre on Rue de la Republique.

Le Pont d'Avignon.

On the way onto the bridge.

Sur le pont d'Avignon!

As you can see I was on the phone to St. Benezet discussing how the pont came to be in the first place. It seems Benezet (which means little Benedict, little because of his small stature), a shepherd in the Vivarais, heard a voice that ordered him to build a bridge over the river Rhone at Avignon. Guided by an angel, he arrived in Avignon and was laughed at by the inhabitants because of his project. Undaunted, he proved his good faith by lifting an enormous stone and carrying it all the way to the Rhone. Convinced that he had been ordered to do this by God, the inhabitants got down to the task and built the bridge. The bridge suffered frequent collapses during severe floods and had to be reconstructed several times. Only 4 of the initial 22 arches remain intact today

Entrance to Romanesque Chapel.

The Lower Chapel.

From the former bridge, only the Chapel remains and it is called the lower chapel because the roadway of the second bridge was raised.

One of the arches.

A view of  Pont Daladier from Pont d'Avignon.

The Upper Chapel

A view of Palaia des Papes from the pont.

Still communicating with St. Benezet.

A view of the Rhone.

A view of Rocher des Doms from the pont

The drawbridge.

Sculpture near the pont

A view of the pont from below

Je danse sous le pont d'Avignon!

The song "Sur le pont d'Avignon" derived from a song "Sus le pont ..." or rather sous as it is spelt today. The bridge was too narrow for people to dance on it but, in Medieval times people danced under it and along the banks of the Rhone.

Le pont from below.

Le pont from below.

From the bridge over to Palais des Papes, one of the largest and most important medieval Gothic buildings in Europe. There's loads of history associated with it but you'll have to look that up for yourselves! Anyway, Avignon was the papal base in the 14th century and, from the look of the Palais des Papes, it cost a small fortune but didn't empty the papal coffers!

Can you spot me? I might be yawning already!

My latin has deserted me!

On our way to the inner sanctums!

Most of the frescos (not this!)  we were not allowed to photo - that didn't stop the Japanese group!

Model of Palais des Papes

In the Pope's Dressing Room.

The most important room of all, the Treasury - where all the valuables and money was stores under slabs of stone that looked to be part of the floor. Now they contain countless pennies or cents!

In the kitchen.

The chimney in the kitchen.

Plaster casts of Popes.

Chamberlain's outfit - very important person.

Popes!

Above two l'Horloge.

Practically dropping, we returned to the car and went home. Later, when we had revived and before sunset,  we took a walk through a vineyard and looked at some grapes - much more to our liking!