Time stands still in Avignon, the Provencal city of stone that has played host to Romans and popes.
By JAMES T. YENCKEL
Published September 21, 2003
[Photos: Sandra L. Lafevre]
ABOVE: The bridge at Avignon, famed for centuries in song, has not fully spanned the Rhone River for many decades.
RIGHT: From the bridge at Avignon, the view toward the fortresslike Palais des Papes is spectacular.
AVIGNON, France - We danced on the bridge at Avignon, my wife Sandy and I, an improvised two-step to the familiar French song, Sur le Pont d'Avignon, l'on y danse, l'on y danse. The ditty was one reason we came to this ancient walled city in southern France, most noted historically as the 14th century residence of a series of nine popes.
How could we not dance?
At the entrance to the bridge, which dates to the 12th century, we had picked up audiophones. For about 15 minutes, a recorded voice directed us on a stroll atop the remnant of this graceful stone monument, detailing its many legends. Then, as we stood watching the Rhone River flow beneath us, the narration concluded with a lively choral rendition of the old tune. It seemed an invitation.
Sandy and I twirled across the stones to the music, each of us using our free hand to hold an audiophone to one ear. Other sightseers nodded and smiled as we took our spin.
Of course, there is much more here to celebrate than the bridge. The city, a gateway to Provence, was classified as a World Heritage site by UNESCO in 1995 because of its dozens of splendid historical structures, many open to the public.
Dating from the Roman, medieval, Renaissance and Napoleonic eras, the buildings form a grand outdoor museum of the past. The most illustrious is the towering, 14th century Palace of the Popes, commanding a view of the city from a hillside perch. At night under spotlights, it glows like a full moon.
Historians believe the area now occupied by Avignon has been settled continuously for about 5,000 years. Much archaeological evidence has been uncovered of its status as a Roman colony, beginning in the second century. Place de l'Horloge, where City Hall stands, was the site of a Roman forum.
Out of anarchy, fame
The riverside market town attained lasting fame in 1309, when anarchy in Rome induced Pope Clement V, a Frenchman, to seek sanctuary here. For 70 years the little city-republic served as the capital of Christianity. Popes and cardinals commissioned lavish palaces.
Though the popes returned to Rome, Avignon continued to flourish as a European market crossroads. But now Renaissance merchants built the palaces.
Until the 19th century Avignon remained medieval in appearance. Then, under the reign of Napoleon III, the city underwent much the same redevelopment - new parks and wide streets - that Baron Haussmann, a financier and city planner, designed for Paris. Today, Avignon's core is home to about 11,000 residents; an additional 75,000 live outside its walls.
We arrived here from Paris on France's high-speed TGV train in 2 hours and 40 minutes - the journey takes seven hours by car. Our hotel was the 80-room Hotel Clarion Cloitre Saint Louis, a restored 16th century Jesuit school.
Our first destination was Avignon's bridge, but it turns out that the Pont Saint-Benezet now leads nowhere. Once, 22 arches spanned the Rhone; now only four carry the bridge from the city's northern rampart to the middle of the river. The often-flooding Rhone ripped away one arch after another through the decades. The bridge still looks rather stately despite its wounds.
For a modest fee, visitors can walk its remaining length, and from its midriver terminus the view back toward the city, its wall, the cliff and the papal palace is spectacular.
A spiraling staircase ascends the sheer cliff rising above the Rhone. It leads to the Rocher des Doms, an elaborate 19th century garden of splashing fountains, classical statuary, a rock grotto and a little pond with gliding swans. From this height, panoramic views extend across the Rhone to a massive medieval fort in the suburban town of Villenueve-lez-Avignon.
Zigzagging walkways and stairs descend from the garden to the fortresslike Palais des Papes, the papal palace, its crenelated walls and twin spires a city landmark. A guard in colorful 14th century garb of feathered hat, striped pantaloons and sword greeted us.
From outside, the palace looks unconquerable. Inside it reflects great wealth: Rich tapestries decorate many walls, and other rooms are adorned with lovely frescoes.
Ceremonial rooms such as the Hall of the Consistory, where the popes received kings and ambassadors, are enormous and ornate. But the finest room is the Pope's Bedchamber; its soaring walls are covered with a sky-blue fresco of birds and squirrels amid grapevines. The floor is a patchwork of multicolored tiles.
The palace opens onto the Place du Palais, where a cluster of outdoor cafes provides a fine view of the palace walls.
Europe's smaller cities can be as rewarding as the national capitals. Avignon offered all the pleasures of Paris but without the clamoring traffic and the pressure to take in many notable museums and churches. Here, the list of must-see sights can be done in a couple of days, and nearly every one is within a 20-minute walk of the others.
Museum and shops
On the Place du Palais, the Petit Palais Museum houses a collection of Italian Renaissance paintings in a 14th century cardinal's residence. Impressionist works by Manet, Sisley, Utrillo and Dufy fill the Calvet Museum, which occupies an 18th century manor house regarded as the finest in Avignon. And works by Van Gogh, Cezanne, Picasso and Modiglianiare are displayed at the Angladon Museum, another elegant city mansion turned museum.
At Collection Lambert en Avignon, the Museum of Contemporary Art, we returned to the 21st century of flashing lights, video screens and fog machines creating I'm not sure what. A nearby antidote was the Louis Vouland Museum, filled with 18th century decorative arts, especially those of Provence.
These are small places, requiring no more than 45 minutes each.
Worth a morning visit is the bustling Les Halles, the warehouse-size city market that is packed with stalls selling vegetables, fruits, meat, fish, baked goods, cheeses and olives. At Olives Daniel, I counted 23 giant ceramic pots, each filled with a different kind.
There also were stacks of skinned ducks on ice, their feathered heads still attached. At a bake stand, we sampled oreillettes provencales, a thin, sweet pastry.
The city's most interesting shops were on Rue Joseph Vernet, where Souliado offers an extensive selection of colorful Provencal fabrics, tableware and scarves, and Rue des Marchands, where Olivades also features local designs.
A local confection is papalines, chocolate truffles filled with a liqueur distilled from 60 herbs picked from the slopes of Mont Ventoux, a nearby peak. To me, papalines tasted as though they were made with perfume.
But nearly everything else we ate was magnificent, especially our meals of modern French cuisine, with light sauces, fresh local vegetables and a good choice of fish entrees.
Old though it is, Avignon seems young in spirit. A university center, it is attracting a colony of artists who show contemporary works in numerous galleries. Lines formed nightly outside the movie theaters on busy, tree-lined Rue de la Republique, the main thoroughfare.
On a warm Saturday night last October, that street was thronged. Cafes and bars were packed, indoors and out, and even at 11 p.m. children and their parents lined up at a carousel in a square.
On a night like this, I felt like dancing again sur le Pont d'Avignon.
- James T. Yenckel is a freelance writer living in the Washington, D.C., area.
If you go:
GETTING THERE: From Paris, take the high-speed TGV train from Gare de Lyon to Avignon's TGV station. Fare is about $73. From the station, catch the shuttle bus to the city's central railway station, a 10-minute ride. Bus fare is about $1; a taxi, about $15.
STAYING THERE: We stayed at Hotel Clarion Cloitre Saint Louis 20 Rue du Portail Boquier; call 011-33-490-275-555; the Web site is www.cloitre-saint-louis.com From April-October, rates are about $130-$275 a night double. From November-March, about $84-$214. The hotel, wrapped around a formal courtyard, blends the allure of a stately ancient structure with chic contemporary furnishings. I loved our spacious "superior" category room and its mammoth windows; it was $214 a night, last October.
A more upscale option is La Mirande 4 Place de La Mirande; 011-33-490-859-393; www.la-mirande.fr. A restored, 700-year-old townhouse, it is a four-star lodging tucked behind the papal palace. Rates: April-October, $300-$940; November-December, $260-$830.
The Hotel d'Europe 12 Place Crillon; 011-33-490-147-676; www.hotel-d-europe.fr charges about $120-$670 a night.
EATING THERE: We sought out Avignon's upscale contemporary restaurants, enjoying mostly fish dishes served with fresh local vegetables.
At La Mirande, we ordered the fixed-price dinner, at $55 per person. A menu in English described the appetizer as a "tower of beans," which proved to be a salad of mixed beans, goat cheese and basil wrapped in a roasted red pepper. The main course, pan-roasted cod served with au gratin potatoes and fried spinach, was well prepared. We finished with apple cream cake and vanilla ice cream.
We were equally delighted by these less-formal places:
At La Compagnie des Comptoirs (83 Rue Joseph Vernet, 011-33-490-859-904), I ordered a baked white fish ($17) wrapped in a banana leaf; Sandy went for the grilled lamb chop with eggplant ($22). We also ordered a green salad with figs, almonds and raisins ($8).
L'Isle Sonnante (7 Rue Racine, 011-33-490-825-601) is a small nonsmoking restaurant serving a four-course, fixed-priced meal for $58. Shrimp gratinee was the starter course, followed by a sauteed filet of red mullet, the cheese plate and cookies with sorbet.
FOR MORE INFORMATION: Contact the Office de Tourisme d'Avignon, 41 Cours Jean Jaures, BP 8, 84004 Avignon, Cedex 1, France; 011-33-432-743-274; fax 011-33-490-829-503; www.avignon-tourisme.com
[Photos: Sandra L. Lafevre]
