First, let me say that Kaitlyn did not sleep all night in her own bed.
Now, to our exploration of Avignon. I chose the city because I really wanted to go to Provence… to see what all the fuss is about. It’s too early in the season for the fields of lavender. So I went for history. Avignon has two claims to fame: a famous song I’ve never heard of (Sur le Pont d’Avignon) and a palace where the popes lived for some 70 years in the 1300’s.
We started at the Palais des Papes. Where the popes lived. After visiting the Vatican, I figured a place the popes called home had to have at least some opulence that I could marvel at. But when the popes left, the place went to pot. It was used as a prison and nearly torn down after the French Revolution. There was at least one fire. (I’m not completely clear on the facts, Kaitlyn and an audio guide is an iffy combination… even when you get her one of her own.) We walked through a lot of big, empty rooms with bare stone walls and, well, that was really about it. It was still interesting, but also a let-down. To me. Maybe I set my expectations too high.
From there we went over to the bridge immortalized in the song we’d never heard of. Kaitlyn said she doesn’t sing that song at school, she had no idea what it was. The bridge was originally built in the 11th century and was re-built once. But a few hundred years and a lot of flood waters later, the idea of repairs was tossed out the window. There are four arches still standing. There were 22 to begin with. So the bridge stretches, oh, maybe half way across the Rhone River then just stops. (It used to stretch across that river, a small island, then another river finally ending on the very far shore.) You pay to walk out onto this uncompleted bridge rimmed by a thin metal rail and two signs that tell you to hold your child’s hand. That is France’s answer to safety: hold your child’s hand. Like I needed a sign to point that out. We did not especially enjoy our jaunt out on the bridge. Inside we checked out the display about the song. Just in case you’ve never heard of this famous song, it’s about dancing on the bridge. Kaitlyn danced along. I still can’t buy that it’s a famous song. Frere Jaques. That’s a famous French song.