Exploring - Beginning at Avignon in 1964 - post 22

View of Toulon from the high road

We ate dinner here and it was pretty good, at a sidewalk restaurant along the waterfront.

August 6, Thursday​

Today we visited Avignon, Arles, Les Baux, and Aix en Provence.



Cliffs along the road to Avignon


Cypress along the road

When we visited the Riviera and Provence, I had a Michelin guide book. The guide to the sites to visit was only available in French, which I can read a little bit.


Statue on top of Pope's Palace

This is the biggest Gothic palace in all of Europe. It was built in the 14th century and was completed in only 20 years by popes Benedict XII and Clement VI when Avignon was the seat of the papacy.

At the time we visited, Avignon was not very well known and was off the normal tourist track. Thirty-some years after our visit, UNESCO designated it a "World Heritage for Humanity" site. Now, the Popes’ Palace is one of the most visited monuments in all of France. The walls of the Popes’ Palace are flanked by four towers - some of which are 170 feet tall

Entrance


Walls of the palace


Doorway

From the Great Chapel there is an entrance to the loggia through the large Fenêtre de l'Indulgence (Window of Indulgence)

Indulgence Window

where there is a view of the Great Courtyard. From this window the Pope used to give his blessing to the assembled faithful.

Courtyard

Now, the visitor can see over 20 rooms, scenes of historic events, in particular the pope’s private chambers and the frescoes painted by the Italian artist Matteo Giovannetti

Statue on church


Park near the Pope's Palace


Grotto in garden


Bob eating lunch


Looking over town


Sur le pont d'Avignon, L'on y danse, l'on y danse,

In English: Under the bridge of Avignon, One dances there, one dances there,

It was under the arches of the bridge on the Ile de la Barthelasse that dancing was once held. The song was popularized by Adolphe Adam who included it within his operetta "Le Sourd ou l’Auberge pleine" (1853). The above photo, which I took in 1964, still shows some of the little islands under the bridge.

According to legend, this bridge belongs to St. Benezet. As a young goatherd, Benezet heard a heavenly voice ordering him to go to Avignon. He crossed the Rhone by ferry, and in midstream announced that he was going to build a bridge. This was distressing news for the ferryman, who, bent on eliminating unfair competition, tried to toss Benezet overboard.

Undaunted, he marched in to the Avignon cathedral and again announced in a voice loud enough to be heard over the Mass, his intention of building a bridge. He was ejected.

He waited outside, repeating his story to the faithful, until the bishop, determined to prove that Benezet was an evil lying child, pointed to a huge rock, and asked the boy to pick it up. Benezet did so - lifting it as if it were a pebble.

Convinced of the truth of the miracle, the city built the bridge. Over its second pier is the little Romanesque and Gothic chapel dedicated to St. Benezet, who later became a priest.

Bridge from Promenade du Rocher de Doms in 1964

The bridge was built between 1171 and 1185 (first in wood and then in stone). It was finally put out of use by a catastrophic flood in 1668. It was not destroyed by either one of the World Wars.

Looking down river


Walls of town


Looking across river to the castle of King Rene