Waking up today was different. I felt more relaxed. I guess in part that was due to the fact only two other people were sharing the 6-bed dorm with me. The weather was better too. In Paris it was usually cloudy and occasionally raining. Here the wasn’t a cloud to be seen all day.
First port of call today was the tourism office to get some info for tomorrow. Once that was sorted I headed to the Papal Palace for the full tour.
The Palace, home to the 7 Popes of the Avignon Papacy of 1305-1377 and then the two Antipopes of the Western Schism until 1403. From then until the Revolution, the palace continued to be used by officials of the Papacy.
The Palace is one of the greatest buildings I have ever walked through. Some of the rooms are simply vast…believe me when I say this medieval building is huge. Despite sieges, fires and ransacking four of the rooms in the palace still retain their original painted wooden ceilings and in other rooms,the wall paintings look almost as if they were painted yesterday. That such craftsmanship has survived seven centuries is a wonder.
Afterwards, I took a walk through the Cathedral Notre Dame des Doms which sits next to the palace on the Crest of the hill in the centre of Avignon. Small but nonetheless a worthwhile church to have a nose around.
Next to the cathedral is a park which had outstanding panoramic views across the Rhone valley. Below this, on the north side of the palace square, the Petits Palais, also built by the popes, houses a neat little collection of 15th and 16th century religious art.
I completed my tour of the Avignon UNESCO world heritage site by walking on top of the Pont d’Avignon. This bridge took a century to build and once spanned nearly a thousand metres across the Rhone with twenty two arches. Over the centuries though floods and the changing course of the river has swept away all but four on the Avignon side.
Here I must say something about the wind. If the wind hadn’t been present, the weather would have been spot on. But like a cloudless hurricane boy did that wind blow. I’ve lost count the number of times I’ve nearly been forced into the road or the river by that bloody wind. I gather it’s usually like that too so if you’re ever visiting Avignon, don’t bring an umbrella, you’ll find yourself flying in a matter of seconds if you do!
Braving the tornado force winds, I crossed the Rhone and made my way to Avignons companion hill on the opposite bank. Here is located Fort St. Andre. A monastery from the 10th century untill the revolution, it was fortified by the French kings with an enormous wall around the same time as the Popes arrived in Avignon. This served a purpose because, for a time the Rhone was the border between France on one side and the papal property of Avignon and the Holy Roman Empire on the other. Only once the Avignon Papacy ended did Avignon unify with France.
History aside, the monastery’s gardens have been tenderly restored. Taking a stroll around them, getting glimpses of the papal palace across the water and mountains on all sides, all whilst walking through paths of tall Cyprus trees between olive groves….well if that wind hadn’t been howling through the branches it would have been paradise.
I completed the day by eating alone in an actual restaurant. I felt a but weird but in the end I was too hungry to care and so I tucked into my Sicilian style pizza. It was so nice I think I’ll go back tomorrow to see what else they have on the menu!
All Aboard The Backpacker's Express 