Day 53 - Avignon & Palais des Papes
/Wanting to explore places outside of Nimes, we decided to head to Avignon. We did not want to drive too far, since we have a 5-6 day road trip coming up on Sunday, so with Avignon being only about a 30-40 minute drive from Nimes it was a perfect destination. With the sun shining in the blue sky and some white fluffy clouds scattered about it was a gorgeous day for a drive.
We arrived around 1:30 PM and decided to eat our packed lunch in the car, since in the afternoon you are only required to pay for parking from 2-7 PM. After the other day, when we paid unnecessarily for parking, we were rather proud of our plan.
It is pretty neat that you park right next to the wall that one day protected the city of Avignon.
We walked through some charming streets on our way to Palais des Popes (Palace of the Popes).
We passed by quite a few small shops that mostly sold local products of the region.
After zig zagging through a few streets, we arrived at our destination and were awed at the architectural beauty of Palais des Papes.
A brief note regarding Saint John's Chapel (1st picture in the above gallery) that I found interesting.
After our walk throughout the Palais, we headed towards Pont Saint-Bénézet, which is also known as Pont d'Avignon. The bridge at one point, spanned the Rhone River between Villeneuve-lès-Avignon and Avignon, but nowadays ends abruptly in the middle of the river.
We were able to walk on the remaining part of the bridge that is still standing today and enjoy beautiful views of the river.
We also were able to climb the tower, and on portions of the wall (via stairs), to get to a great look out point/park where we could see better views of the bridge and rooftops of Avignon.
Avignon seems to have more charm and a much more lively spirit than Nimes. We will have to go back to explore the streets and the city center more another time.