Spring Break: Avignon

Final Stop. I bet you all were wondering when it would end!

Thursday:
I decided to stop in Avignon for 2 nights on my way back to Paris. Avignon is in the Provence region of France. It's a really old town that's surrounded by a medieval wall. I pulled into Avignon at about 4 pm on Thursday and walked right to the Tourism Office. They directed me to a hostel on an island in the Rhone River, which borders Avignon. It was about a 15 minute walk from the center of town. As I walked there, through the windy streets with old beautiful buildings and mansions, I had no idea what to expect of the town. All I knew was that there was a big castle there and a bridge. I checked into the hostel. It was pretty gross. There were 2 of us in a room for 8. The room smelled disgusting, like stale cigarette smoke from the original Marlboro Man. But it was fine, especially at 16 euro a night with a pretty good breakfast included. I put my stuff in the room, showered (because I was pretty gross after a 7 hour European bus ride), and walked into town.

Avignon was gorgeous! I had to walk across a big bridge to get to town. The Rhone was picturesque. There is this really old Bridge, the Pont de Saint Benezet (also known as the Pont d'Avignon), that used to go across the entire Rhone but now has only 4 arches left. It's kind of like the Bridge to Nowhere, for all of you who follow Alaska politics. Then there is this huge castle and church and some beautiful gardens up on a hill. I just wandered around for a while. It was really windy (the mistral winds blow in from the Alps and are always wisking away people's hats in Provence). I walked around the gardens for a while, looking out into the Rhone valley and at the town. Then I walked by the Palais des Papes and the main church. I walked through a good chunk of the town, just exploring. I found a restaurant for dinner and had a really good salad with all different types of foie gras and duck liver. I talked to the restuarant owner for a while. The town seemed pretty quiet considering all the restaurants that were open. Most places were empty or closed! He said that everyone is eating at home. Also, restaurants have to add a 19.6% tax to their food prices so a lot of people have stopped eating out. The French government is lowering the tax in a month or so because it's had such a negative impact. I loved being in Avignon though because I could really speak French to everyone I met. After dinner, I walked back to the hostel. There, I met my roommate for the night, Mr. Larson. Mr. Larson was a 65/70 year old guy who was biking around Europe for about 4 months. He was one week into his trip. He was a pretty interesting guy who talked A LOT. He kept me up for a long time, making me drink really bad wine he kept in a plastic water bottle, and telling me about how revolutionary it was that he could photocopy his thesis paper when he was in college. hahah, it was pretty funny though. I went to bed that night and tried not to breathe in the disgusting air.

Friday:
Woke up around 9. Had breakfast at the hostel: une petite baguette, un pain au chocolat, une bouteille d'eau et une banane. Not too shabby for being included in the price of my room (which was only 16 euro). I walked into town and met at the Tourism Office for a walking tour of Avignon. There were only 4 people on the tour, including me. A woman from Virginia and a couple from Washington D.C. Our tour guide was this funny French woman with really out there 'purple-red' hair. She had to walk really slowly because she was pretty large. She was a very jolly French woman. Her english was fine and she took us around the streets of Avignon, pointing out architectural styles, telling us the history of certain churches and squares, and telling us about the spirit of Avignon. It's a great little town, a cultural center in the South of France with a lot of artists. Every July, they have a theatre festival in the town and people just put on shows everywhere! We walked by the synagogue in Avignon at Place Jerusalem. There's a decent Jewish community and the temple is still in use. The Jews were protected by the Popes in Avignon because of their religiousness.

After the tour, I walked around some more and found an internet café to book my ticket back to Paris. I found a 10 am train the next morning that got me into Paris around 1. I toured the Palais des Papes after that. It was a huge castle where the Popes lived. For about 100 years in the 13th and 14th Century, the Popes left Rome and came to Avignon. Rome was too politcally unstable and dangerous so they temporarliy relocated to the South of France. The Vatican bought the entire town of Avignon, built a wall around it, and built it up. This brought a lot of people to Avignon, intellectuals and traders, etc. After Rome calmed down, they tried to persuade the Popes to come back to Italy. The Popes of Avignon were all French and didn't want to leave France. There was a schism in the Catholic Church for a while and there were 2 popes at the same time, one in Avignon and one in Rome. The Palace was really really cool. The audioguide was great, the churches and dining rooms were elaborate for the time and there were picturesque gardens in the courtyards. It was a huge complex! The roof was amazing, with paths walking around the castle and a spectacular view of the Rhone and the town of Avignon. After spending an hour and a half or so in the Palace, I went to the synagogue. It was supposed to be open from 3 - 5 but because it was Shabbat, I guess they were closed. I was a little disappointed, I missed the synagogues in Florence and in Avignon. I decided to go to the Pont Saint Benezet after that. This bridge was built when a 17 year old shephard came to the town and said he received instructions from God to build a bridge across the Rhone. Everyone laughed at him but then he picked up a huge rock, showing that his mandate really did come from God. The bridge spanned the Rhone, with 22 huge arches. Dangerous floods have destroyed most of the arches but 4 remain. It is so windy on the bridge! There are signs telling parents to hold on to their children! There is also a famous French children's song called "Sur le Pont d'Avignon" about dancing on the bridge. It's supposed to be "sous" le pont (which is under the bridge, instead of on the bridge, because people would have parties on the island where my hostel was right underneath the bridge. The bridge was very cool and I learned a lot about the history of the region and of Avignon.

I trekked back to my hostel and went for a run on the island. I jogged along the Rhone, passing by all of these house boats that were docked to the island. It kind of reminded me of Louisiana or something with boats in the swamps...a little creepy. But the weather was perfect. I came back, showered, and read on the banks of the Rhone. Around 8:30/9:00, I went into town to find a restaurant. I found one that looked pretty good and asked for a table for one. They seemed a little creeped out and didn't have any actual tables but they put me at a table in the bar that's usually used for people who are just drinking. So I was sitting at this table, alone, while people were getting drinks before they sat down. It was sort of awkward. But, this restaurant was worth it. I wish I had taken down the name because it was really good! The waiter was really nice to me. I ordered a cassoulet for an appetizer and he asked if I was sure. I've had cassoulet before, a mixture of white beans, sauces and meats, kind of like a stew, and I really liked it. He told me this was different, that it was fish. I figured I'd just go with it - and I made the right choice. I think this appetizer was my favorite dish of spring break. It was kind of like a purée of fish with a crusted layer on top in a bowl. It was delicious! I had steak and vegetables for my main course, along with some red wine. After dinner, I walked home and talked to my mom on the phone, read, and went to sleep.

Although it was pretty odd traveling alone (and eating alone), I was really glad that I went to Avignon instead of just staying in Barcelona. I love speaking French and being in a small town like that really forced me to speak French. Most people speak English but they were very receptive to me speaking French. I left the next morning for Paris...the only notable thing about my journey was the AMAZING train station in Avignon. I've never seen such an aesthecially pleasing train station...very modern. It made me excited to be taking the train instead of flying or taking a bus.

Finally, I arrived in Paris for the end of my spring break extravaganza. What an amazing trip. I'm so grateful to my parents for enabling me to travel around Europe. It's such an amazing opportunity to see the world and once you start traveling, it really whets your appetite to do more. Thank you so much Mom and Dad!

Saturday night in Paris I went to this really cool club on a boat called Batofar with my roommate, his girlfriend, and some of my other friends. I did much needed laundry, caught up on homework, and just decompressed from traveling. SPRING BREAK 09. Woo. Amazing.