Thursday, June 10, 2010

19th May Glorious Avignon



There are several self guided walks around Avignon and we chose one that would lead us through different quarters of the town through narrow, winding, cobbled streets lined with tall buildings (3-5 storeys) and many tiny "places" where maybe 5 streets meet at very sharp angles.



We were particularly interested in the street that follows a canal for about 1 km - it was the place where fabrics were dyed in the early days of Avignon. It used to be outside the city walls (very smelly occupation), but later the city walls were moved to take in the area. There had been 14 waterwheels along this strech of canal and we saw 4 still rolling with the fast moving water.




In the afternoon, we visited the Musee de Petit Palace, situated on the grand 'place' at the side of the Palais des Papes. I was astounded by the beautiful art works from 1300 - 1500 - religious paintings, icons etc. Only one room showed architectural features from the times - bosses and fine scultures of saints, The other 15 rooms all held paintings, even a few frescoes lent by The Louvre.

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