Avignon

The first time my wife and I visited Avignon, nearly twenty years ago, it wasn't a comfortable experience. We had two small boys in tow and they were "bored of interesting things", which is to say defiantly resistant to any further educational sight-seeing. I cannot now recall (the memory has a merciful knack of blotting out such details) whether their running up and down, loudly chanting "Palace of the Popes, Palace of the Popes", actually resulted in our being denied entry to that establishment, or simply meant that we might as well have been for all that we were able to take in as we went round it. Either way, it was a bit of a washout. ...  Read the complete review

Certainly not among the most visited of places in France, Avignon is perhaps best known for its famous bridge. This, the Pont St-Bénézet, appears in a French folk song, “Sur le pont d’Avignon”. There is indeed only part of it left, but overall I found this a less than spectacular sight. It is by no means worth it to journey this far just to catch a glimpse of, and perhaps walk over the bridge – it is what I experienced within the walled city that impressed me more. Avignon is not a very big town, restricted by its largely intact medieval walls (supposedly the oldest in France). Entering one of several gates, it only takes a couple of ...  Read the complete review