AVIGNON – France (Thurs 24 Sept)

We went for drive to Fontaine de Vavcluse today, on the recommendation of our host. Also on the recommendation of our host, we didn’t buy anything to eat or drink there. It has been voted as the ‘Prettiest town in France’, and this has been supported by all the guide books, and so as you can imagine, the tour buses arrive in their droves and the prices around town reflect that. It does make you wonder though what it must be like to live here.

Having said that, it is indeed a very pretty little town. It has natural springs which feed the river that flows through the centre of town and turn the large water wheels that these days are purely ornamental. In days of yore these water wheels powered everything from flour mills to a paper making plant (of which there is now a reconstruction). They still make paper there and print onto it, purely to feed the tourist market, but even that is kinda cool.

The springs themselves are very clear and support a wealth of very green water plants that gives the river an emerald green appearance as it flows through. It seems quite like Hamerana (Rotorua) or Poupou Springs (near Nelson).

A short walk up the hill from the town you will find the source of the main spring, in a pool over shadowed by huge rocks. The water level is quite low at the moment and it isn’t much more than a small puddle, but the water marks on the rocks are evidence of something much more impressive during the wet seasons.

We drove back to Avignon from Fontaine de Vavcluse, driving back past the grape vines and apple orchards through the back country roads.

Avignon is the oldest town in France by quite a considerable margin. There are tombs and artifacts there that date back to the 4th millennium BC. The first impression of the city is the ramparts encircling the old city. They are the most complete ones that we have seen, and give a very strong visual message that this is an old city. They were originally built in 1359.

We walked around to the Pont Saint Benzet, which first appears as a half finished bridge, and indeed that is what it is ... well almost. It was complete once (in about the 12th Century), but the last few sections were destroyed. Halfway across this old bridge there is an old chapel dedicated to Saint Nicolas, the patron saint of Bargemen.