Our last full day in Provence brought with it a chill to the air and a visit to the place I had been looking forward to since I saw it our first day – Avignon.
The old city of Avignon sits on a hill still contains its medieval walls surrounding it. Originally settled by a Gallic tribe as an outcrop
ping of Marseilles, it came to be an important location when it was inhabited by the ever spreading Romans. The city passed through various hands until it became a part of the Kingdom of Arles. In 1309, French pope Clement V took up Avignon as his residence. A series of 7 French popes, from the period of 1309-1377, made Avignon the papal seat of power, rather than Rome. As you can imagine, this went over very well in Italy. The city officially came into possession of the church in 1348 when the countess of Provence sold the city to the current pope, Clement VI, for 80,000 florins. Apparently, her husband mysteriously died and she was being charged with his murder. Low on funds,she sold the city for money to mount her defense. The sale of the city for what was essentially chump change also managed to get the church firmly in her favor, and she escaped the murder charge and went on to marry 3 more times. Avignon remained in church hands until the French Revolution when it was annexed as part of France once more.
With our combined efforts, we managed to find parking right away without getting turned around at all (a feat for us on this trip), and decided to head into the city to walk around. Before we walked into the city through the walls, we headed over to Pont Saint-Bénezet. A famous medieval bridge, legend has it that a local shepard boy named Bénezet had a dream that God wanted him to build a bridge across the Rhône River. It was damaged several times by floods and wear and tear (probably because the city let a small child design and build it) until half of it was swept away by a flood in 1688. Today, only about half of it remains. It is popular in French culture for its mention in the French song “Sur le pont d’Avignon” which talks about dancing round and round on the bridge. In actuality, in its prime, people would have danced under the center of the bridge on the small island in the middle of the river, popular for recreational activities.
We headed into the city, with a quick stop by Katie and I to buy some 
lavender goods. The region of Provence is well known for producing a huge portion of the world’s lavender and lavande (cheaper version) essential oil used for soaps, lotions and perfumes. Unfortunately for us, it wasn’t lavender season so we didn’t get to enjoy miles of wonderfully scented plants, but that didn’t mean we couldn’t buy some products to take home.
After our short shopping break, we headed up to the Palace of Popes. Having never been to the Vatican, I never realized how much wealth the church had until I saw the Palace with my own eyes. It was huge. And while the palace shows the signs its age, you can see how ornate it must have been in its glory days. The only drawback was that, being the former home of the Popes, it drew a large Italian crowd. Italians are not good company in crowded places. Unless you like to be shoved aside whilst someone yells “SCUSI!”
After a bit of shopping, we headed home to bring in the new year in style. Katie made a really delicious duck pie with a puff pastry top, we bought a Bûche de Noël for dessert and we opened a bottle of champagne. However, as we are all old and need to be up early the next day to catch the train, we decided to celebrate South African New Year as it occurred an hour before French New Year.
Ducks from the butcher still have feathers on them
Traditional French Christmas time desert. Sponge cake soaked in booze, rolled with a mousse like filling and then decorated to look like a log.
Happy New Year! (1 month late)
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