Avignon

Avignon is really worth visiting although the mainly two attractions are the Bridge (known from the song, now stuck in your head ;-)) and the Palace of the Pope.

The bridge used to cross the entire river but due the way it was constructed and climate changes due to the small ice time, it kept collapsing. Therefore on today only 3 out of the 29 arches survived. The bridge just ends in the middle of nowhere.

The Palace of the Pope was used by 7 Popes in the 14th century as political unrest in Rome made Avignon a better option. When sky cleared p in Rome during some years there was both a pope in Rome and one “antipope” in Avignon but this was resolved  in 1403 when the Avignon papal dynasty came to an end and the papacy transferred definitively back to Rome.

We strongly advice to visit both sites as they are really interesting and high tech. For example Palace of the Pope is using histopads, this a kind of tablet that transfers you back to the 14th Century including a treasure hunt for children (and adults: yeah we got them all). There are combi-tickets available.

Tip: during 3 weeks in July there are festivities in Avignon: lots of theatre and street performers. This creates a very nice atmosphere.