Avignon

Growing up, one of my childhood songs that I loved so much was "Sur le Pont d'Avignon". It took many years before I realized that there actually was a Pont in Avignon that was refered to in the song. They obviously do not call it that, the real name for the pont or bridge in english is the Pont Saint-Bénezet which was built between 1171 and 1185, with only 4 of the original 22 arches remaining.

No matter the history, I love the song speaks of dancing on the the pont. I NEVER imagined that one day..."I" would be doing just that! And with the man I love!! But here we are dancing away on the bridge while Abigail furiously snapping away the pictures and curious onlookers watching in disbelief. I must say it was quite difficult to dance on because the bridge is made of many stones just sticking out, beautiful to look at...difficult to danse on!

Here is the song in brief: (feel free to sing away)

Sur le pont d'Avignon
L'on y danse, l'on y danse
Sur le pont d'Avignon
L'on y danse tous en rond
Les beaux messieurs font comm' ça
Et puis encore comm' ça

Sur le pont d'Avignon
L'on y danse, l'on y danse
Sur le pont d'Avignon
L'on y danse tous en rond
Les bell' dames font comm' ça
Et puis encore comm' ça

And for the man I love, ever the historian, his big thing he wanted to see on this trip was the Palais des Papes, on the World Heritage Site of the Unesco. Avignon became the residence of the Popes in 1309 when the new Pope unwilling to face the violent chaos of Rome after his election in 1305 moved the residence.

Want to know what the weather was like? Ask me!

Finally we also got to see the Pont du Gard is an aqueduct constructed by the by the Roman Empire around the year 19 BC! It was an amazing structure to see and this picture does no justice to the size of this thing...a must see on everyone's list!

Of course there was many more stops with extremely interesting things to see and times spent but I'm sure by this time you've grown tired of this trip. It was however the best vacation of my life as it was carefree and with no real structure. We went as we pleased and left when we pleased. Thank you to Nicholas and Abigail for making this trip so special.