Our morning tour was of the city and principle sites. Part of it was similar to the "getting familiar" tour we had the first afternoon.
The main attraction was the pope's palace dating back to the 1300s when a French pope was elected and decided to move to Avignon. There were 7 popes in Avignon until there were dual conclaves and popes were elected in both Avignon and Rome which caused considerable conflict. Eventually the Avignon pope died and there was only a pope in Rome. At the death of the pope, almost everyone moved back to Rome and Avignon was nearly abandoned although it was still useful as a port town.
The pope's palace is the largest palace in Europe and we were only able to visit a small part of it. The various chapels, banquet rooms and conclave room are huge. The walls were originally all covered with frescoes, some of which have been restored. The pope, cardinals and bishops were certainly able to collect fortunes from their supporters and church members to provide quite a luxurious lifestyle. Each cardinal had his own huge mansion. A new church was built for each pope. At one point, there were over 20 churches but now there are only 4.
One of our stops was at the covered city market where one can buy just about anything imaginable, with beautiful displays of produce, herbs and spices, seafood and cheeses. We were able to sample some delicious marinated garlic.
Salt and spices at Avignon Market
At the end of the morning tour, Amy and I went exploring on our own, going down to the Pont d'Avignon (Officially, Pont St. Benezet). There is quite an interesting legend. A shepherd named Benezet in the 12th century had a vision from God that he should build a bridge across the Rhone river. He went to the bishop who laughed at him and said that he would build the bridge if Benezet could take a 600lb block of stone to the river. Miraculously, Benezet was able to carry this on his shoulder and toss it into the river as the starting pier. The bridge was built in that timeframe although not quite as in the legend. It originally had 22 piers but the river currents are so strong that the bridge was destroyed numerous times and after the 17th century it was not rebuilt, leaving only the current 3 spans.
After lunch, we took a bus to the Roman aqueduct, the Pont du Gards. The remains of the aqueduct over the river are a "World Heritage Site". There is a great modern museum showing how the aqueduct was constructed and used, including a movie with the slaves being beaten and thrown off the top to their death. Our guide gave us a tour of the museum and said we could come back later on our own. From there we walked to the aquaduct which is truly an amazing ediface. The Gardons river which it crosses is a very popular recreation area and there were many people sun bathing, swimming and kayaking in the beautifully clear water. Betty had brought her bathing suite and went swimming. Amy and I just put our feet in the water.
Amy at Pont du Gard aqueduct
On the way back, we passed ancient olive trees, over 1100 years old - one had a plaque saying it was born in the year 908.
Amy and 1100 year-old olive tree
The food continues to be delicious. For dinner I had olive-crusted butterfish with poached pear and fresh vanilla ice cream for dessert. Later in the evening there was a powerpoint presentation on the cheeses of France (over 1200 varieties) and were later able to sample a number of different varieties with local red wine.
As the sun was setting, the sky was spectacular. The sun went behind the clouds which made the fringes of the clouds look like they were glowing white-hot and rays of light went up to the heavens.
In the evening, the ship traveled to our next stop in Viviers, going through 3 locks. It was past 11 by the time we went to bed.
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