The walled medieval city of Avignon, the papal seat of Christendom from 1309 to 1377.

The remains of the 12th-century Pont Saint-Benezet over the Rhone River. Saint-Benezet (ca. 1163-1184) was the founder of the Bridge-Building Brotherhood. He had a vision as a shepard boy telling him to build this bridge.

The Chapel of Saint-Nicholas, patron saint of mariners, is on top of the bridge in which Saint-Benezet was interred until after a flood when his remains were moved to another church.

Provence lavendar fields. The lavendar will bloom from June to August.

Close-up of the wall.

Close-up of the wall.

A gate in the wall.

Close-up.

More of the wall.

More of the wall.

Now inside the wall. A store selling French cloths.

Seen on our walk.

Farther along.

A confiserie and biscuiterie.

A look inside the store.

Farther along.

Make your own glace.

From all these flavors.

Farther along.

A square.

Building behind the square.

A candy store.

It was selling French nougat, which is very similar to the soft nougat sold in Morocco.

Farther along.

Decorated windows.

Close-up.

Walking through a narrow street.

Many restaurants are in Avignon.

An interesting building.

Another biscuiterie.

The main square (Place de l'Horlage--Clock Square) of Avignon. Many restaurants are here.

You can have Spanish food if you wish.

The Hotel de Ville (City Hall) on Place de l'Horlage, 1851.

A Belle Epoque ("beautiful era" in France after the First World War) carrousel.

Close-up.

The ticket booth.

The 19th-century Municipal Theater (Greco-Roman), an opera house, on Place de l'Horlage.

On ts facade, allegorical statuettes representing Apollo and the Muses.

One of two statues in the front: of Pierre Corneille, 17th-century playwright.

The other statue: of Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, 17th-century playwright.

Entrance to a part of Avignon that we were told we could easily get lost in. I went elsewhere.

Up an incline from the Place de l'Horlage is the 14th-century Palais des Popes (Palace of the Popes).

Avignon was the papal residence from 1309 to 1377. It was felt it was more centrally located than was Rome and the Palais des Popes was built. It is one of the largest Gothic buildings in Europe.

In 1378, the papacy was moved back to Rome, but the cardinals of Avignon did not like the new pope: Urabn VI, so they elected their own pope, Clement VII, and installed him in Avignon, resulting now having two popes. This was called the Great Schism. The schism was settled in 1414, and a new (third) pope, Martin V, was installed in Rome and the Avignon pope was given up.

The Palais des Popes is often referred to as the Palace of the Antipopes. To the left of the photo is the 12th-century Avignon Cathedral. It contains tombs of popes.

The Avignon Cathedral.

On the top of the Avignon Cathedral is a gilded statue of the Virgin Mary.

Close-up.

From the palace, I got on this small train for a ride around Avignon.

The big square in front of the Palais des Popes.

More of the square.

From here, we climbed up a hill for views. You can see the Pont Saint-Benezet and the Rhone River in the photo.

Farther along through a park.

A statue of Jean Althen, 1709-1774, an Iranian-Armenian agronomist who developed the cultivation of madder (an Eurasian herb) in France.

View of the countryside and the Rhone River.

The 14th-century Fort Sainte-Andre in the distance.

Now back behind the Avignon Cathedral.

Steps leading up to the cathedral.

Back to the square in front of the Palais des Popes.

A store on the square.

Close-up.

Riding through the town.

Now outside the city walls.

A view of the walls.

Another view.

Another view.

A view of the Pont Saint-Benezet.

The Chapel of Saint-Nicholas on top.

More of the wall.

Going through an opening in the rock that is part of the wall.

Riding around Avignon.

Riding around Avignon.

Riding around Avignon.

Riding around Avignon.

Riding around Avignon.

The Musee lapidaire d'Avignon, a small museum in a 17th-century church with Greek, Roman, and Etruscan art.

A shopping street.

Passing two of my tour mates. I guess they have been shopping.

Riding around Avignon.

Looking up at the city wall.

Artistic windows.

Another one.

Hats for sale.

Artwork for sale.

More artwork.

And more. The small train ride ended where it started.

Walking in Avignon.

Going into the Nougat des Papes with some of my tour mates.

It sold delicious nougat and we bought some.

Passing a store selling lavendar products which are a big product in Provence.

More lavendar.