My next day’s touring took me to nearby Avignon. Arles, Nîmes & Avignon are all about 20 minutes from each other by train. So I decided to save touring my home base of Arles for Sunday, when the train service is less frequent.
Avignon is a fairly large medieval city still surrounded entirely by it’s old walls. It’s historical claim to fame is playing home to the Pope (well, 9 successive Popes, actually) for 50 years during the 14th century. It also has the ruins of a large medieval bridge which is the source of the “Pont d’Avignon” nursery-rhyme, which I’m afraid I’ve never heard of (or simply don’t remember).
The Palais des Papes (Palace of the Popes) is immense. They sure built a lot in a relatively short period of time (although, parts of the palace were added after the Pope returned to Rome). It’s situated near the top of a hill, overlooking both the town and the river. And it’s really as much castle as palace, since the reason the Pope moved out of Rome was for security. Next door is a museum filled which much of the artwork that filled the Palais throughout the years. That’s a lot of paintings.
The Pont d’Avignon (technically, the Pont Saint-Bénezet) projects about halfway across the Rhone. But, apparently the original medieval bridge extended much further than the far bank, which is actually an island. All but the remaining bit was swept away in a flood in 1668.