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Category: Travel

Tags: avignon, nimes, provence

With many ancient and medieval sights to see, this 2,000-year-old city is a good home base for touring the Provençal region. Home to nine popes during the 14th century and one of the most beautiful cities in France today, Avignon is a treasure house of palaces, museums and meandering lanes, surrounded by a fortified wall.

This city in the heart of beautiful Provence lays claim to dozens of historic monuments, especially the great Palace of the Popes, which grew into an imposing fortification during the 60-year papal residency and is now a museum.

The popes left the Vatican in Rome for political reasons and lived in Avignon from 1316 until 1377, the city's Golden Era, when great mansions and the massive wall were built. Great wealth flowed into the church coffers, some from rowdy foreigners who could pay their way into the city, much like today's tourists, such that wise visitors make plans to visit in the off-season.

The main sights
Orient yourself with the town's two main squares, the Place de l'Horloge and the adjacent Place du Palais containing the Palace of the Popes. This UNESCO World Heritage Site is considered the largest Gothic palace in all of Europe, although its original furniture is gone and its cavernous rooms are mostly empty. After visiting the palace, exit the palace back door, through the wine bar and gift shop, into the old neighborhood where ancient Romans established their town 2,000 years ago, following the Greeks and prehistoric tribes. Simple Roman ruins are still visible on the right side of the small square.

The pedestrian shopping district extends 10 square blocks south, but save it for tomorrow. Energetic types might opt for a 10-block circular stroll through quiet back alleys and over to busy Rue Carnot, then walk back toward the palace on Rue de la Croix. Return to the Place du Palais along an ancient lane adjacent to the palace, Rue Peyrollerie, dramatically carved into the bedrock.

On the northern end of Palace Square, you will spot the fortresslike Petit Palais, built in 1318 as a mansion with Gothic pointed arches and an interior courtyard. Now a museum, it houses a collection of 300 medieval paintings, including Botticelli's "Madonna and Child." The main thrill is simply walking through this delightful mansion, home to Julius II before he became pope.

You might also stop inside the nearby Cathédral Notre Dame des Doms, the town's major surviving Romanesque structure. Walk a few minutes north from the Place du Palais into a lovely public park called Roche des Domes, resting on the top of a small hill overlooking the Old Town. From the ramparts, take in the beautiful views across the city's rooftops and across the Rhône River. You will also spot the romantic castle of St. Andre in the distance and the famous half-bridge, Pont St-Bénezet, your next destination.

Pont St-Bénezet: Retrace your steps to the Palace Square or take the more scenic route from the park's north end, down steps to the river, then along Quai de la Ligne, which provides views of the fortified wall. Either route brings you to Pont St-Bénezet, Avignon's legendary bridge, another UNESCO World Heritage Site, built in the late 12th century. Don't bother paying admission to walk on the bridge unless you want to dance on it as in the famous 15th-century children's song: "On the bridge of Avignon, everyone is dancing." You'll be able to see it well from the river bank. This was the only bridge across the lower Rhône River when built, connecting the kingdoms of France and Germany, and thereby turning Avignon into an important trading center.

The Old Town: Enter the Porte du Rhône gate through the town wall, then turn right at Rue Grande Fusterie, dotted with picturesque 15th-century houses. At the end, turn right, then left to Place Crillon, site of Hotel d'Europe, where you might consider staying. This is four-star deluxe but has some moderately priced rooms, especially in the off-season. Avignon makes an excellent home base for visiting the Provençal region, with many fine hotels in all price ranges. Stroll one block over to Rue Joseph Vernet, perhaps the prettiest street in town, lined with shops, galleries and restaurants. Detour a few blocks up and down Rue St. Agricol, which offers a similar environment of pleasant shops and leads to the main square of town, Place de l'Horloge.

In late afternoon the lighting is a delightful mix of soft sunshine and shop lights, enhancing Rue Joseph Vernet's romantic atmosphere. Never mind the traffic; strolling is a pleasure. After about eight blocks it ends at the town's busy main street, Rue de la République, home to the Tourist Information Office.

At the information office, pick up a free "Welcome to Avignon" brochure listing major sites and containing a useful map. The tourist bureau placed colored arrows on the sidewalks coordinated with the map to help keep you on track. Also available at the office are train and bus schedules, along with information about packaged day-trips.

Continue strolling along Rue de la République, the town center's busiest street, extending from the train station nearly to the Pope's Palace in a straight mile-long line. There are restaurants and fast-food choices along this broad artery, but wait until you get back to the main square, Place de l'Horloge, before deciding where to dine.

Place de l'Horloge: This popular square has many cafes all around it and a mix of restaurants that range in quality from simple bistro to fine dining. Several lovely streets branch out from this main square, but by now it is probably time to pick an appealing spot for dinner and save further walking for tomorrow. Of course, there are other dining places in town a bit less tourist-oriented than those in this main square, but locals eat here, too, and the advantage of dining in Place de l'Horloge at a choice outdoor table is the delightful ambience -- lots of people walking by, beautiful buildings all around and a lovely, tree-shaded park environment throughout the square.

Walking tours
Avignon's Old Town is a charming neighborhood of shopping lanes, narrow residential streets and little back alleys. Some of these routes are for pedestrians only, especially in the shopping center just southeast of Place de l'Horloge. At a half-mile wide and long, this historic center can easily be seen on foot in one day. The curved streets will keep you guessing what's around the bend or which museum or monument is coming up next. Streets are level, riddled with little plazas, fountains, trees, benches and numerous cafes. While the façades are historic, shops and galleries feature modern interiors and contemporary European items for sale. Start with a cup of coffee in the main square, Place de l'Horloge, enjoying the Town Hall's neoclassical façade and colorful swirl of the Carousel, with dozens of people ambling by. Walk to the south end of the square and turn east into the pedestrian-only neighborhood for exploring. At first this shopping zone will seem vast and disorienting, but this is a good orientation for serious browsing later in the day.

Find your way to Rue des Marchands and then past the Synagogue to Place Pie, a large, tree-lined square surrounded by quaint buildings and cafes. Pass through the indoor food market, Les Halles, emerging on the south end at Rue Bonneterie, which turns into the picturesque Rue des Teinturiers, the "street of the tinters." Several ancient water wheels along this cobbled lane are still turning, pushed along by a quaint little tree-lined canal. The wheels once provided power for textile manufacturing and dyeing. Now this is a trendy street, with cafes, boutiques and a small theater, a mere 10-minute walk from the town center. Return at twilight, when the street takes on a different atmosphere.

Stroll back on the Rue des Lices, feeling free to wander left or right as the spirit strikes. A few blocks north are two important churches worth visiting: St. Didier, one of the largest Gothic churches in Provence, and the mid-14th-century St. Pierre. This will take you back to the main Place de l'Horloge and put you in prime position for lunch, followed by shopping or a couple of museum visits.

Museums: Le Musée Calvet is one of Avignon's major museums, located in the lower section of Rue Joseph Vernet. It's set in a magnificent 18th-century mansion with collections of fine art and decorative pieces from the 15th through 20th centuries. An archaeological branch of this museum, Le Musée Lapidaire, displays sculpture from ancient Greece, Rome and Egypt inside the chapel of a former Jesuit church, at 27 Rue de la République, a few blocks away. You can stand in the front door and peek at the stone carvings and decorative arts before deciding whether to pay for a closer look.

Paintings from the 19th and 20th centuries are on display at another excellent, small museum, Le Musée Angladon, with masterpieces by Degas, Manet, Sisley, Van Gogh, Cézanne, Picasso and Modigliani, among others. This former private Angladon family mansion also exhibits furnishings, drawings and several period rooms upstairs, including an artist's studio, a Chinese room and a Renaissance room. It is located just behind the archaeology museum at 5 Rue Laboureur.

These main museums should be enough for most visitors and could keep you busy most of the afternoon, leading right into the cocktail hour. Another dozen smaller museums, archives, libraries and historic homes are open to the public, so one could actually spend another full day in pursuit of culture.

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