Wednesday, September 26, 2007

9/19/07 Provence - Avignon day Popes & Bridges







Got up to clear and cool weather after evening thunderstorms. We had loud thunder and lightning the evening before and a cold front probably came through. We went to the local farmers market in Malaucene and bought our lunch of paella, Baguette, cheese, pears, local ham, tomatoes, local french camembert cheese and finally a couple cakes with peach and lavender in them. The we left town with Lui on our "free" day and drove to Avignon and the Palais des Papes. Avignon functioned much like the Vatican and housed the pope - originally when he was looking for someplace safer to stay. During the schism (when there were two popes vying for power), the second pope (the one who lost the struggle) lived in Avignon. This palace has quarters that that shock and amaze with their grandiosity. We wandered around Avignon a bit and had our lunch in the papal square. After lunch we went to the Pont d'Avignon, which only Lynne felt compelled to actually walk. This was originally a 21-column bridge that crossed the Rhone river and was the official portal to the Holy See (Avignon being the equivalent of Vatican City) and now only has 3 columns left. And finally we went to the Pont du Gard about 15 miles west of Avignon. This is a Roman aquaduct that still stands today crossing a small stream. It's quite amazing as there doesn't appear to be any space between each indivual huge stone in the bridge. Truly, Roman engineering was amazing.

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