Day 9 - Villeneurve-les-Avignon

We started the day by visiting the Cathedral we mentioned yesterday: Notre-Dame-des-Doms. This tall cathedral with gilded Madonna on top was begun in the 12th Century but rebuilt many times. Two popes are entombed here in the Chappelle St-Roch.

Afterwards we visited the pleasant park nearby with great views of the countryside.

We decided that the impressive fort (Fort Saint-André) we could see in the distance would be worth investigating. Avignon is technically two towns squished up against the river Rhône. Across from the walled centre of Avignon proper is a narrow island of parks, farms and caravan parks. On the other side of the island is the town of Villeneurve-lès-Avignon.

We walked over to Villneurve, and the tower that once guarded the town on this side of Pont St-Bénézet - Tour de Philippe le Bel - which was unfortunately was closed.

We had a pleasant stroll through the narrow winding streets of town, a reached the fort - although we did walk the long way around the hill.

Compared to visiting the monuments of Paris, there were few visitors at the fort. No queues: We paid our admission, were given a map and shown the door into the guardhouse which was closed behind us.

Altough the rooms were pretty much bare, we were pretty much free to wander around the towers (built in 1291) as we pleased: Through the bakery, the porticulis room, the muitions storage, toilets, and the prison chamber that prisoners had left grafitti in. The old, worn, narrow spiral starcases were a little hair-raising to use.

Walking towards the fort.

The guardhouse.

We also explored the rampart walls and a small chapel within the fort.

Also within the fort is an Benedictine abbey and the remains of a town. It was pleasant to wander around the gardens of the abbey (ranked as on of the top 100 in France) which had great views of Avignon.

View back to Avignon from the gardens of the abbey.

Some of the ruins within the fort.

The French government recently effectively abolished a public holiday (Pentecost Monday). This was understandably not popular, and back-peddled a bit, but the status of the holiday isn't clear.

Apparently, for the local bus system it was a public holiday, and so we missed our bus and had to walk all the way back to town.

Walking back to Avignon, we stopped in this leafy town square in Villeneurve for chocolate milkshakes.

For dinner we tried a quiet little Proveçale restaurant and dined outdoors in a warm, leafy courtyard.

Day 8 - Palais de Papes and Pont Sant Bénezet

Well rested after our first night in Avignon, we got up early and headed for the Palais de Papes - the Popes' Palace from when the popes lived in Avignon during the 14th Century. The huge walls of the palace in the highest part of the city dwarf every other building - except perhaps the cathedral next door.

The comparative lack of crowds was a nice change. Many of the rooms were facinating, especially the Popes' Chamber and the massive chapel. From the top of the palace there is an excellent view of Avignon and the neighbouring countryside, including Fort St André on the other side of the river.

View from the Palais de Papes.

Evan at the Palais.

The palace hasn't been very well treated over the centuries and many rooms are bare, but it was an interesting experience.

After trying some specialties of Provence (chocolate coated nuts and marzipan fruit), we visted Pont Sant Bénezet - also known as the Avignon Bridge.

There are only a few arches of the bridge left - the bridge kept on being washed away by floods - and a small chapel (actually two chapels on top of each other) on the bridge. The history of the bridge is facinating although the long-winded audioguide was perhaps a bit much for such a short bridge.

Evan in front of the Pont Sant Bénezet.

David being blown away by the wind on the Pont Sant Bénezet.

For dinner we tried a fondue restaurant and had fondue mains and fondue desserts.

Day 7 - Place des Vosges and arrival in Avignon

Our last day in Paris began with a walk around the streets around the hotel in Nation (while we waited for our laundry to finish).

Evan had wanted to see Place des Vosges before we left, which is reputed to be one of the most beautiful squares in the world. The 17th century buildings were impressive, but their contents (hotels and boutiques) were largely uninteresting.

We had a quick final lunch at Le Pain Quotidien (and Evan bought their cookbook) then got on the TGV to Avignon.

The trip took about 3 hours and was very comfortable, and took us through some pretty French countryside which gradually became drier as we headed south.

After arriving in Avignon that afternoon we checked into the aptly named Hotel Mignon (Cute Hotel) which is inside the still standing old city walls.

In front of the Papal Palace in Avignon.

The Hotel Mignon.

We took a walk around the city taking in the sights and labyrinthine mediaeval alleys, followed by dinner at one of Avignon's many 'Chinese-Vietnamese' restaurants.