IT'S A WRAP

                   

Time to finish up here in Avignon.  Another two months gone.  Hard to believe we have been gone over 8 months now.  Avignon was a lovely place to settle for two months - particularly during the holiday. I am ready to move on and am looking forward to Lisbon, a bigger city and very different from France - so a whole new experience.    

Before leaving this wonderful city I have a few things I haven't blogged about yet so best get it done so I can move on to  Lisbon.  Don't expect anything too exciting this is just getting some pictures and such on the blog so I can delete them from my iPhone and iPad.  Have to make room for new pictures.  

As we wandered around one day we came to this church and decided to go in and have a look.  It is a church which was built by the Carmelites , a religious order that came to Avignon in 1267.  

I thought the wood work was beautiful!

I had mentioned in one of my earlier blogs about the Pont Saint Benezrt.  We had taken pictures of it bu we hadn't really gone to have a look so we decided one nice day to leave the walls of the city and go view the bridge firsthand.

This emblematic site in the history of Avignon is known throughout the world in the famous song.  Built in the 1th century, it was destroyed several times by spates on the Rone River before being rebuilt and finally abandoned in the 17th century.

How did the bridge get its name? Who is this Saint?  

" A young shepherd named Benezet, in 1177 came down from the mountains of the Ardeche.  He told himself sent by God to build a bridge at Avignon.  At first they took him for a fool, but he heard a voice from heaven says to her:  Benezet, take your rod and go on to Avignon, the capital's waterfront, the people you speak and tell them that we must build a bridge."   ( Yes, that is the quote, I didn't change anything - lost in translation, maybe?)

Ridiculed by the people , the shepherd is challenged by the prelate to load a huge stone on his shoulder and throw into the Rhone.  Benezet did not hesitate a moment, and under the eyes of the amazed crowd, lifts  the block of stone and throws it into the water.  The Pont St. Benezet is the oldest structure built on the Rhone between Lyon and the sea in the twelfth century.

In the Middle Ages, the Saint-Benezet bridge was part of one of the most importantpilgrimage routes   between Italy and Spain.  It would become essential to the pontifical court, whih settled in Avignon in the 14th century.  Very soon, the cardinals moved to Villeneuve to escape the pollution of Avignon, at the time described by the poet Petrarch as the "most foul and stinking city on Earth".

The bridge was at that time the most direct link betwen the many residences that the cardinals had had built and the Popes' Palace situated inside the Avignon walls.

The bridge, a marvel of its time was built in only 8 years ( 1177- 1185).  

Of course there is the famous children's song about the bridge:

                   (Chorus)

     On the bridge of Avignon

They are dancing, they are dancing,

     On the bridge of Avignon

     They are dancing all around

The handsome gentlemen go this way

     And then again go that way

                  ( chorus)

The pretty dames go this way 

 And then again go that way

                  (chorus)

At one time all the relics of Saint Benezet were kept here but fear that the bridge would collapse resulted in the relics bring taken to the Celestine cloister in 1674 and after being moved several more times and a desecration in 1791, there remained just a few bits and they are now kept in the cathedral of Notre-Des-Doms in Avignon.

This chapel is on the lower tier and is the chapel of Saint Benezet

All that remains of the bridge now are its four famous arches and the Philippe le Bel tower on the Villeneuve-les-Avignon side, and of course the famous song known around the world.

 The Popes Palace in the background.  The chapels on the bridge were used by people for sleeping if they were on their journey and the gates of the city were locked.  

I heard these two  cooing as I was in the chapel.

On the 2nd of January Sharon and I headed to Monpelllier for our last day trip from Avignon.  Well,the city was really closed up.  Apparently they had celebrated way too much and just decided not to show up for work.  Restaurants and shops were closed and the streets were pretty quiet.

We arrived around 9:30 and headed to the city center.  Montpellier, acccording to its tourist guide book is "the ultimate city set in a privileged enviornment between sea and the mountains".  The city is acknowledged as an attractive and dynamic regional capital.  The true center of the city is the Place de la Comedie.  It is an oval-shaped plaza dominated by the Opera House, and is one of th largest pedestrian areas in Europoe and was designed in the 18th century.  ( W ehave certainly  hit all the "largest pedestrian areas in Europe-have you noticed?)

Located in the square is the Les 3 Graces, a fountain created ty Etienne d'Antoine.  The three Graces statue fountain is one of th symbols of Montpellier.  The original statue is in the hall of the Comedie Opera House.

The babies around rhe fountain.

The Opera House.

We decided from here to walk over to the Arc de triomphe. 

The Arc of Triomphe was built at the end of the 17th century and the king intendant decided to erect this arch, a copy of the gates of Paris, in honour of Luis XIV where one of the gates to the ancient rampart used to be.  

Across from the Arc de Triomphe is the Palai de Justice built in 1853.

This was off to the side as we walked up to the Promendae du Peyrou.  A large royal coutyard The magnificent panoramic view of the surrounding countryside has been exceptionally well preserved. In the 19th century the square was transformed into an esplanade and two rows of trees were planted to form side paths.

The statue of Louis XIV.  This was the water tower in the background and the Saint-Clement aqueduct form a remarkable group of monuments.

In front of the tower was a beautiful sundial. After we found out what time it was....

These wonderful faces at the top of the arches on the water tower.

The Aqueduc Saint-Clement.  The engineer, Henri Pitot de Launay, drew inspiration from the Pont du Gard to build the acqueduct in 1754.  It supplied drinking water to the city from the springs in the town of Saint-Clement.

We left this area and went looking for a coffee shop that was mentioned in an article I had read.  They roasted  their own coffee.  It was supposed to be down from the medical school so we headed in that direction.  We found the Medical school - La Faculte de Medecine but not the coffee shop.  Darn!  We needed that cup of coffee.

Montpellier was only two centuries old in 1811, when its Lord Guilhem VIII signed a far-reaching edict.  He declared that anyone, regardless of religion or background, could teach medicine in Montpellier... Thus was born, at the end of the 12th century , what is today one of the oldest active medical schools in the western world.  ( The two massive columns you see are part of the Cathedral).

On the side of the building there was another sundial.  Had I known Montpellier had all these sundials I would have left my watch at home.

OH!  Time to go to our next stop.  No coffee for us yet.

The baptismal font as you enter the Catherale Saint-Pierre.  Pope Urban V, a former student at Montpellier had a monastery and church bult in 1364, later to bcome the Saint-Pierre Cathedral in 1536.  Its southern Gothic style, massive profile, and dominating portico supported by two circular columns, give the effect of a medieval fortress.

We saw some lovely gardens as we continued our walk looking for the coffee shop but found that they were closed until 1:00 so about this time we had given up on the coffee shop and decided we'd walkback  toward Place de la Comedie so we could get lunch.  Every little restaurant around the area we were in was  locked up.  We finally decided on a llittle place and ate our lunch.  

Who knew?

Here comes one of the trams.

They have 4 lines and look at the trams.  I only got to see these three.

Anything but boring!

After lunch we decided to catch one of those fancy trams  and head out to the Odysseum  a large outdoor shopping mall which also includes an aquarium, a planetarium and many other amusements.  I had read about an area which has statues of 10 of the greatest figures of the 20th century and I was interested in seeing it.  I was also hoping that the by taking the tram out of the city center we would see a bit more of the city - it worked.  One of the areas we went around was antigone which wa a part of the city which began its history in 1978 when the city acquired land belonging to the army.  The Neo-classical district designed by renowned Catalan architect Ricardo Bofill, is part of Montpellier's unique architectural appeal.  

We arrived at the "mall" and proceeded to look for the statues.  SUCCESS!

The statues were placed around a large circular forum.  It wa interesting - particularly to see who they had chosen.

The 10 figures are : Golda Meir,Mohandra Gandhi,Gamal Nasser,Nelson Mandela,Charles de Gaulle,Franklin Roosevelt,Sir Winston Churchill,Vladimir Lenine,Mao Zedong, and Jean Jaures.

There is a little controversary including Mao in this group.  As for Jean Jaures, I think unless you are French you probably don't know who he is.

 Nasser

 Mao

Mandela

Golda Mier

Gandi

de Gaulle

Roosevelt

Churchill

 Lenin

 Jean Jaures ( He wa a French Socialist leader who was assassinated at the outbreak of WWI and remains one of the main historical figures of the 

French Left.

That done we decided to head back to the city and view the gardens we weren't able to see earlier.  

We got a free tram ride back because the ticket machines were not working.  We were a little fearful that the doors might shut on us as we trying to exit ( I had Sharon go first, just in case) but nothing happened.  We were 1.50 Euro to the good.  

The park was beautiful even at this time of year.  I am sure that it's absolutely beautiful in the warmer weather.

A wonderful tree trunk where people left little notes.

NOtice the little solar panals over the plants.

After the park we decided it wa time to head back to Avignon.  

One of the things I would like to have seen in Monpellier is the Jewish mikves.  The medieval mikve is a ceremonial Jewish bath dating from the  13th century.  Monpellier has one of the best preserved mikves in Europe and if you are on the city tour you can go in.  Unfortunately during this time of year the tour is only give on Saturdays in English.  

Today, the 5th I sent a box to Portugal, we had lunch out.  The menu was interesting -   four pancakes served with different toppings - pate, foie gras, goat cheese with honey and walnuts, and smoked salmon.  Needless to say she made something different for Sharon's pancakes - ham and pickle, mozzarella and tomato, and the goat cheese.  Not as good as mine!

A few last shots of Avignon.

Main Street - Rue Republique

Our grocery store

Grocery store is in the basement.

Pedestrian shopping area.

The phone provider while here in France.  

This is where we went for coffee almost afternoon until they shut there doors for the holidays.  So sad, we had such a nice waiter who knew our order.  He was cute too!

We have enjoyed our accommodations here in Avignon although the induction stove has been challenging and as a matter of fact, remains challenging.  We never could figure out how to keep things cooking low and slow - everything cooked high and fast. I don't think we have induction stoves again on our trip.  Philippe, the owner and David the manager have been wonderful.  Any trouble we had they were right here.  We lost electricity twice and that was fixed.   David is picking us up on Wednesday and driving us to the train station.  We have been blessed!

Tomorrow we just have to pack our bags.  We are hoping that all will fit in the two suitcases.  Sharon sent two boxes back to the states and I sent one.  I also sent one onto Portugal.  The size of the box grew from the one I sent here from France.  

I just inished readinbg The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters and started the first in a series of detective mysterys that Sharon has enjoyed by Deborah Crombie ,A Share in Death.  These mysterys take place in England and many of the places we visited are mentioned.  

Happy 2015 to all. Catch up with you in Portugal!