The ancient window is open and the strong mistral wind of Provence is blowing into the apartment and freshening the rooms. The natural linen curtain billows in and out framing the view - only a narrow roadway separates my building from the one on the other side. A strong green vine is growing up its three floors of cream stone walls and the mistral is stirring its thick foliage roughly. Clear blue sky above and the sunlight still strong at 5.30pm in the afternoon though shadows are beginning to form throwing the shape of the timber shutters onto the wall next door. The blue-grey paint colour so fond of in Provence is old and peeling and the shutters have seen better other days. This is my view.
Inside, I am sitting at the dining room table. A tall vase of white peonies and trailing greenery is placed at its centre. The strains of Vivaldi are playing. A glass of champagne is at my side. In one part of the room, the wall has laid bare its stone building blocks and its history breathes gently. The rest of the walls are rendered and are the colour of soft gold, taking their inspiration from my champagne.
This is day three of Avignon and I have fallen in love with the place. I have spent much of my day today walking through the old town of Avignon, its narrow streets and winding pathways past buildings dating back to the 14th Century if not earlier. The ramparts - the old medieval walls which surround the original Avignon- remain and they keep the historic centre quite separate from the more modern development that has developed outside. Avignon is one of the few cities that remain in France still surrounded by its medieval fortifications and the current walls one sees today date to the fourteenth century and are on the UNESCO world heritage list.
I arrived on a Saturday by train from Paris. Having spent much of the last three weeks touring and on the go, I was looking forward to stopping in one place and resting, of getting to know somewhere in some depth and engaging in those activities which constitute living in a place. Finding a supermarket, a wine bar, the local fresh food market and identifying those places that require exploration. Avignon is easy for this. Everything is within a 2 to 10 minute walk away from my apartment.
Les Halles is the local fresh produce market and is literally only a block away from my front door. One wall of the building is a living garden and late in the afternoon as you walk past, the scent of greenery wafts across the town square as its watering system hydrates the plants and little drips of water fall to the pavement. Inside from 8am to 3pm the market offers an amazing range of produce. Fresh seafood and of varieties I have never seen before. Lots of cheese! I have never seen offered for sale before goats cheese with rose petals. The bread is amazing too! Fougasse, baguettes, pastries and tarts galore and of course, croissants and pain au raisin. The French eat a lot of poultry and there are numerous stalls offering chicken and other poultry items. As I toured around the market on a Sunday morning I saw something I have never seen before- a man devouring fresh oysters and drinking wine at 10.30am. I wondered if this was his usual repast or a tasty hangover cure?
It is said that the Mistral always blows for an odd number of days and this week, it is predicted three. Yesterday the weather forecast said the winds were at 50km an hour but today a little less though. As I lay in bed last night I could hear the wind whirling down the narrow roadways and shaking the old window shutters. As odd as it might seem this was quite comforting and I slept well. The benefit of the mistral is that it clears the atmosphere and good weather always follows and yes, sunshine and clear days are predicted.
I followed two suggested walking tour pathways from the Tourist Office today. Firstly the Papal Promenade which led me to visit the Palace of the Popes. The second, Strolling along The Old Streets which led past the most historic parts of the town. In between I stocked up at the Monoprix supermarche, bought beautiful French linen placemats and visited the local boulangerie for baguette and almond croissant for tomorrows breakfast and yes, a delightful bottle of Sauvignon made its way home with me too.
The apartment is located on the corner of Rue Bonneterie and Rue Des Teinturiers and it is one of the most picturesque neighbourhoods in town. It is no surprise that it is included as part of the Strolling The Old Streets tour. Rue Des Teinturiers was the location for the textile industry which existed in Avignon in the 19th Century. An uncovered canal can still be seen running alongside the footpath/roadway, shaded by large plane trees, and the water flows still. Of the original 23 paddle wheels that existed in 1827 only four have survived and they are beautiful. Constructed of approximately six foot long timber slats, the timber has mellowed into a soft brown and green. Surprisingly the water still smells sweet and not the musty smell of decay I was expecting from old waterlogged timbers.
Heading towards the Rhone River, I followed Rue Paul Saints Carmes Square. On the square there remains the Bell Tower of the 14th Century Augustinian convent and the St Symphorien Des Carmes Church and cloister but I found the interior of the church very dark and the side chapels gloomy. Apparently the square comes to life more on the weekend when the local flower and flea market happens. Leaving Carmes Square was somewhat tricky as its a labyrinth of tiny narrow pedestrian ways and easy to get lost. However, with a blue sky and a sense that one doesn’t get lost one explores, I found my way past wonderfully old and dilapidated buildings to arrive at the tiny but perfectly formed Place St Pierre. It is a tiny square shaded by large plane trees and underneath their branches, three little bistros compete for business.
Place St Pierre is also at the base of the Palace of the Popes. Walking along Rue Peyrolerie (known as the Tin Smith’s st) is a narrow winding way paved with Rhone river pebble stones and one can look up to the immense towers of the palace. Today, a small trio are playing music busking for euros and the sound reverberates of the stone walls of the palace and its foundations. The Palace of the Popes was home to the Roman Catholic Pontiffs during the 14th Century and today 25 rooms are able to visited and while the interior is interesting, it is the outside which is the most impressive. Sitting at the highest point in Avignon, it has a commanding view over the city.
A large stone paved square surrounded by baroque styled buildings is at the front of the palace and marks the entry.
To the side of the square and palace is the Notre Dame Des Doms Basilica. Surveying all before it, the Basilica is topped with a golden Virgin Mary. At the back, the Petit Palais Museum - home to a substantial collection of 13th to 16th century art and gothic Avignon sculptures.
Of course what interested me inside was the unusual and the quirky. While what remains of the original decoration of the interior of the Papal Palace is little, two painted chapels indicate what the rest of the building once must have looked like when the Popes were in residence, however in other areas the rooms usage and function changed significantly after they returned to Rome. One interesting area was the treasury. What can be seen today are the underground vaults where items of real value were kept. Old stone pavers have been lifted and one can peer down into the stone lined vault where the gold was kept. No doubt they thought the pavers covering them would fool potential vagabonds!
Four Popes remain buried in the chapel here in Avignon and of course I am always intrigued by the carving and sculpture of the tombs.
What would a visit to the Palace of the Popes would it be if I didn’t also walkout onto the Saint Benezet Bridge, or more commonly referred to as the Pont d’Avignon. Built in the 13th Century to span the Rhine river, only 4 of the original 22 arches remain of the bridge that was 900 metres in length. I walked agains the mistral the length of the bridge though it nearly blew me off. It was exhilarating to stand out in the middle of the Rhone watching the river flow quickly beneath me and the mistral whirling around me. It is a perfect vantage point to look back at the Palace and also to the town of Avignon and its ramparts.
Back on road side I stood to take a photo of the bridge amidst a field of lavender and the mistral whipped up the scent till it was almost intoxicating. It will be impossible for me to think of Avignon now without its mistral and scent of lavender.