Le Pont d'Avignon, a Palace and a Chateau

 In the evening we left Arles and sailed to Avignon, arriving in time for a sail past the famous Pont d’Avignon at 10 p.m. The whole town looks amazing all lit up. 

We found out before we sailed out the next day that we would be turning around when we left and sailing in the opposite direction. What looks like the other side of the river is actually a large island, and the main navigable part of the river is on the other side of it.

 In the morning our walking tour took us around the town, and especially into the Palace of the Popes. But before that we were able to visit Les Halles, the local market, and most of us spent the time drooling at all the produce, meat, fish, cheeses and the rest. Had I been shopping to prepare a meal, I would have bought a little of everything and ended up with quite a feast! 

A huge living wall on the outside of the market building

breads,

vegetables,

cheeses,

fresh made pastas,

and seafood - all fresh and looking mouthwatering!

And even homemade duck confit and
foie gras

We also had a walk through town before we reached the Palace of the Popes. It is a very interesting town with the medieval wall still pretty much intact around it.

They say the Palace of the Popes 'dominates' the
town skyline......

This is the tower of the old cathedral
attached to the palace

The Theatre of Avignon. There is quite a big
theatre scene here, with a major French live
theatre festival taking place every year

The Hotel de Ville, or City Hall

When things got too hot in Rome, the popes moved their operations to the sleepy town of Avignon for about a hundred years. In 1309 the first pope to leave Rome, Clement V, stayed at the local Dominican monastery as a guest, and moved the Papal Curia there, requiring a rather impressive edifice. Clement's successor, John XXII, set up a nice palace, which was reconstructed (and made much larger) starting in1334 and taking about 30 years. Ultimately six popes were elected there between 1334 and 1394, including the two 'antipopes' of the Papal Schism, Clement VII and Benedict XIII, who chose to remain in Avignon when the seat of the popes was returned to Rome.

The papal palace was enlarged over the years and now dominates the town. It is one of the largest medieval gothic buildings in Europe. It, along with the old town of Avignon, is a UNESCO World Heritage site. It was left in ruins after both the French Revolution and the Napoleonic state when it was used as an army barracks. Further damage was done in the French Third Republic (1870-1940) and it was finally vacated in 1906 and has become a museum and 'event venue'. Yes, you can have your wedding reception in the Palace of the Popes in Avignon! Somebody has to pay for the never-ending restoration.

When the popes left in 1403 they took everything with them except the frescoes on the walls and the tiled floors, so there is certainly no ornate furnishing to be found. The frescoes are quite impressive, though, and on individual tours you get a sort of iPad device that shows what the rooms would have looked like when in use. Unfortunately it was not allowed to take photos of the frescoes, but our guide let us take pictures of the screens as he made his explanations.

It is almost impossible to get a good photo of
the whole building

The main entrance of the palace

An inner courtyard

A scale model showing the full palace in its glory.
This view is from the opposite side from where we entered

The bell tower. They would ring this bell
for 24 hours straight when a new pope 
was elected

 

What one of the walls in the pope's bedroom
would have looked like - birdcage and bird motifs

Another of the pope's private rooms

This huge window is where the new pope
would greet his subjects after an election

Our guide also described, using the screens for visuals, what it was like for the cardinals during a conclave when they elected a new pope. It certainly seemed like nobody trusted anybody else. Meals were served to each one at separate tables along the walls where they could all keep an eye on each other. For sure no-one would be able to stab them in the back!

It was quite an interesting tour, even though by the end our heads were so stuffed with historical info that I couldn't remember the half of it.

In the evening we had dinner at the Duke's Chateau, the Duchy, in the small town of Uzes, not far from Avignon. This dukedom has a very long history, as the duchy started out as a Roman camp that became the residence of the Governor in the 1st millennium. This dukedom is recognized as France's oldest ducal peerage, with the current duke, Jacques de Crussol d'Uzes, being the 17th Duke. The House of Crussol dates back to 1486, and the formal Duchy of Uzes to 1565.

During the French Revolution the chateau was taken away from the de Crussol family as it was considered belonging to the nation, and it was sold. In 1824, the duke of the time bought the chateau back from the townspeople of Uzes, who had been using it as a school. A new school was built and in 1834 the duke began restoration of the Duchy of Uzes. After a 30 year or so hiccup in the early 1900s, restoration was resumed and in 1964 the Marchioness had the town and the duchy classified as a heritage site. Restoration continues up to the present day.

This was a very special evening for us, even though the Duke and Duchess weren't in residence. We were, though, allowed to check out a few of the rooms in the chateau before we went for dinner.

Entering the duchy. You can see the different
architectural styles of some of the wings

Inside the walls

A very classy portrait of the current Duke,
Jacques de Crussol d'Uzes

The family chapel

Dinner was served in a large cavernous room that could have had any one of many uses throughout the duchy's history. We had had to choose our main dishes for this meal when we arrived in Cannes and received our welcome packages for the cruise.

Our appetizers

I chose fish for dinner

Larry chose veal

We were entertained throughout dinner by
a trio of 2 violins and a guitar, playing a
number of classical pieces.

Late the next morning we sailed out and headed toward the area of Chateauneuf-du-Pape. Yes, this was a 'new' Chateau that the Popes built in the 1300s to store the wines that were being produced in their vineyards. Of course, they had to go through a lot of wine (only a small amount was actually consumed during masses, as it turns out), and it was a pain to have it sent from the north - not to mention they would keep out-consuming their stocks - so they established or took control of these vineyards not too far away from Avignon to keep their wine source close by. More on that tomorrow.