Day 5_Avignon

Avignon has an interesting history from being an early Celt village (circa 200 B.C.) to Roman development to the Medieval period.  During the Medieval period, the pope (who was French) decided he was unsafe in Italy, that Rome was corrupt, so moved the papacy from Rome to Avignon, France in 1309.  The papacy bought the provincial town and moved everyone and their stuff from Rome.  Construction began soon after on what was to be called the Palais des Papes (Pope's Palace) which the subsequent eight other popes added onto to make an altogether three acre size complex.  (Interesting to note that the Italians demanded a pope in Rome so in the late 1300s, there were two popes:  one in Rome, the other in Avignon.  The ones in Avignon were called the anti-popes and I am not sure how this worked with two guys as the boss.  The papacy moved back to Rome in the early 1400s and no French man has been elected pope since then...)  Palais des Papes is incredibly beautiful, simple, regional in its stone and roof color, and amazingly preserved after so much time and reuse.  I guess all of us should have homes built out of stone.  The audio tour was fantastic with lots of interesting facts for people like me who like trivia, such as the pope was the only person at dinner who could have a knife.

The Pont St. Benezet is a bridge which crosses over the Rhone to Avignon, beginning with a wooden Roman construction in the 400s.  The bridge used to have 22 arches and extend for over 900m (2700 ft.).  An ice storm in the 1600s took out a big chunk of it and now 400 years later, only 3 arches remain.  Nevertheless, the extant bridge is over 600 years old.  The Medieval town of Avignon wrapping around the Palais is romantic and as charming as you can imagine with its higgledy-piggledy spatial layout.  Streets are tight and winding which is a nightmare for cars.  I watched a small truck make a 20 point turn to try to back into an alley.

I walked back to my apartment from the train station, following the main boulevard through town and then along the sea.  I arrived home with a chilled Provencal white wine and a warm baguette.  How French.

The day was beautiful and a highlight for the students and me.  We all split up as each had a varied range of interest in history--some of us needed more time than others.  Some shopped for street art.  Others photographed everything but the kitchen sink.  It's truly a city of old and new as you can see in the slide.