Sur le Pont d'Avignon

This will be a lot shorter post because I just spent the afternoon in Avignon. Avignon is relatively easy to do in just a few hours. Everything is super compact. If you want to do more obviously you need to block out more time. There was a part of Avignon across the River that I didn't know about beforehand so I didn't get to see it. That happens though, and it gives you incentive to come back and see it.
Avignon was about a 20 minute train ride from Aix. When I got there I took the bus from the TGV train station to the town center. You can actually get tickets straight to the center of town but I didn't know that at the time. My ticket on the way back started there. Avignon is pretty neat because it is an old fort town. That means that the city walls go all around outside of the main sightseeing part of Avignon. Here are some examples.

The first place I went was the Tourism office. The tourism offices in France (and most of Europe) are really helpful. The one in Avignon was super easy to find and on the way to everything. They gave me a map and I was on my way.
The first stop that I took was at the Pope's palace. For those that don't know, the Roman Catholic church actually moved the seat of the Pope from Rome, to Avignon in the 14th century. It remained there for the duration of 7 popes before it was moved back to Rome. When the Pope moved back to Rome it set of a schism in the church and the French archbishops elected a pope in Avignon, thus creating two popes (and at one point there were three). So, Avignon is a very important historical city.
I was actually a little disappointed in the Pope's Palace. Not only is it expensive to get in (13.50 for the palace and the Bridge) but there weren't many relics inside. It has a beautiful exterior though. I was hoping that they would have some of the trappings of the Avignon popes in the palace but it was sadly lacking in that department.

The cathedral is attached to the Palace and was closed when I was there which was a major bummer, but I still could see the outside :)

I think that the gardens next to the Pope's palace were arguably more impressive than the palace itself. I walked through them on my way to the Pont d'Avignon. They provided some stunning views of the area.

After the gardens, I went to the Pont d'Avignon, or Bridge of Avignon. I think the song is a little silly but the bridge itself is nice and it is easy to admire the work it took to build a bridge over the Rhône, which is the strongest river in France.

Once I was done on the bridge (no I did not dance on it) I wandered through town a bit. I stopped at Saint Peter's Church and took some pictures.

So that's it for Avignon, and for France. Tomorrow I head to the airport to catch my flight to Athens and the beginning of my Contiki tour. What that means for this blog, I'm not sure. Hopefully I'll be able to keep up with it on the tour. I know I can write it easily enough, it's the uploading I'm worried about. Next stop, Greece!