#19 French King vs Roman Pope

November 11-12, 2021: Avignon

F. When we arrived in Avignon, or rather Villeneuve-lès-Avignon, in the evening, the sun was already setting. We used the last two hours of daylight to admire the Trotzburg Saint-André, the former French king's fortress. Unfortunately, this attraction also goes into hibernation during winter, so we could only admire it from the outside. The view of Avignon and the reason for the construction of the castle - the 14th century Papal Palace - was beautiful.

The next morning we explored the old town of Avignon in more detail. The old town still has a complete city wall 3 meters thick and 4.3 kilometers long. The small and large Papal Palaces, along with the broken bridge, are the main attractions. Here, for the first time on our journey, we feel an increased number of tourists. The rest of the old town is bustling with people shopping in the many small shops. In general, Avignon is very beautiful, but I have to note that capitalism here is very dominant. Even entering the broken bridge costs €5 per person.

J. Addition: Sur le pont d'Avignon.

From the folk song "Sur le pont d'Avignon," Avignon is known to me at least. However, the famous bridge from which the song originated is not a complete bridge. Originally, there was a long bridge that went from Avignon to Villeneuve-lès-Avignon, crossing the two arms of the Rhône and the island in between. It had 22 arches and was torn down, destroyed, or damaged many times over the years by floods and high water and rebuilt each time until it eventually seems to have not been rebuilt anymore. Now it consists of only 4 arches and extends from Avignon to the middle of the river. From the island, there is a nice view of this half bridge. Of course, there are now several modern bridges across the river.

By the way, the song originally came from a folk festival that took place, partly under the bridge, on the island when the bridge was still intact. Therefore, the title of the song was originally "Sous le pont d'Avignon," which means "Under the bridge of Avignon," and not "Sur le pont d'Avignon," which means "On the bridge of Avignon."

Day 27 - Total tour 2,458 km

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