We found out that yesterday was museum discount day. We decided to spend the day viewing the museums. The most well known landmark is the bridge from the song Sur le pont d’Avignon, On y danse. This bridge is unique for several reasons. For one thing, you have to pay a fee to go on the bridge. Once you pay the fee, you can’t cross the river, because the bridge broke apart in the 1600s and was never repaired. This may be the only bridge in the world where one pays a toll to not cross the river.

Broken Bridge

Another unique feature of this bridge is that nobody danced on it. It was so narrow that two people could barely walk by each other. It was replaced with another, wider bridge later on, but people didn’t especially dance on the larger bridge either. The bridge connected to an island on its way across the river. The island became a popular recreational area. The dancing people did was near the bridge, or even under the bridge, but not on the bridge. Another reason the bridge is unusual is that the purpose of the bridge wasn’t to cross the river, but to collect tolls from barges going up and down the Rhine river. Still another unique feature of this bridge is that it has a chapel. Most people wouldn’t think a bridge was a particularly great place to put a chapel. But the folks at Avignon just do things their own way, I guess.

Avignon Bridge Chapel

We spent quite a bit of time at the bridge, because it has a unique and interesting history. And also because we wanted a relaxing day. The other really cool thing in Avignon is the Pope Palace. Not all popes lived in Rome. They lived in Avignon from 1309 to 1374. Of course, popes need a palace, so Avignon has a Pope palace. The Avignon bridge was important because Avignon was a stinky town back in the day. The bridge let the pope and cardinals build their residences across the river where it wasn’t so stinky. Popes need is to live in their own sovereign territory, because a pope can’t be ruled by a king. In 1374, the popes were invited to leave so Avignon could become part of France.

Pope Palace

The palace was restored but not decorated or furnished. The tour came with a tablet that had a very nice program. When we entered a room, it would play a few minutes of audio. It displayed what the room looked like when the popes were using it. As we moved the tablet around the room, the display changed so show a fire place over here, a table with monks over there, a painted ceiling overhead. We weren’t permitted to enter the Pope’s chapel, but the tablet let us view the chapel as if we were inside the room. One could press icons on the display to get additional information. It was incredibly well done, and available in 6 languages. The tablet included one feature that backfired for one family. There was a game: find all 8 hidden gold coins and win a prize. We met one 3-year old boy who was inconsolable because his family found only 7 coins.

The weather in Avignon is delightful. It’s warm and sunny with a high around 25 (that’s 80 in Fahrenheit). Avignon is a wonderful city with great food, wonderful people, interesting stuff, old buildings, and everything else one would expect to find in France.