Avignon

On Sunday we headed back to Avignon so I could see the city a bit and Emilie could meet up with one of her friends from high school.

As you approach Avignon, the city itself is very impressive with an old town that is completely enclosed by medieval ramplarts. I wasn't able to take a picture that offers a good perspective, but found the following on online.

Emilie's friend lives in a nice area within the city walls. I took these pictures of some of the apartments nearby when we headed out to walk around.

After picking up Emilie's friend we headed up to le Rocher de Doms, the elevated rocky portion on the north side of the old town above the Rhône. The view was very nice and included le Pont Saint-Benezet, a bridge built during the Middle ages that connected the city to Villeneuve-lès-Avignon. Now the bridge only spans part of the river.

Next we walked to the Place du Palais, the square facing the papal palace (Palais des Papes) and adjacent cathedral (Notre-Dame des Doms d'Avignon). The palace is absolutely massive, and dates back to the 14th century when Pope Clement V fled Rome and selected Avignon as the site of the papal residence.

We unfortunately didn't have time to take the tour, but I've heard that its very interesting. Nonetheless, tt was nice to see where the Avignon papacy was based given our visit to Constance last month (sight of the Council of Constance, which ended the Papal Schism).

After grabbing lunch we walked around a bit more before heading back to Switzerland. Here are some pictures that I took during the balance of our visit.