ARLES AND AVIGNON HAVE THREE THINGS in common. It’s obvious that each begins with the letter “A,” and both are in Provence on the Rhone River. Arles and Avignon also have a history with Rome. Arles became an important city in Caesar’s Rome of for helping Julius defeat Pompey at Marseilles. Thirteen hundred years later, Avignon earned the ire of Vatican Rome when the Catholic Church moved lock, stock and barrel — wine, wafer and crucifix? — to Avignon.
Amphitheater, Arles Palace of the Popes, Avignon
Today, both Arles and Avignon are big on the tourist circuit and we heard as much wingeing in American as arguing in French as bewildered tourists squinted at maps and searched for street names. Neither town has an extensive historic area but it is easy to lose your way once you’ve lost sight of the Arena in Arles or the Palace of the Popes in Avignon.
True grit, Arles Hotle de Ville, Avignon
Arles is the grittier of the two with peeling paint and dirty streets, but that just made it more interesting. People can still watch bull fights at the Roman Arena just as they watched Roman gladiators two millennia ago. Arles is just the kind of place that would have appealed to Vincent van Gogh. Even Picasso set up headquarters here for a while. We spent much of the afternoon searching out the sites van Gogh painted, aided by sidewalk “easels” with copies of his work.
Cafe at Night Hospital at Arles
Avignon is also custom made for walking. We must have been deprived as children, never having heard the nursery rhyme about Pont d’Avignon, St. Benezet Bridge. Sur le Pont d’Avignon, on y danse….
Pont d'Avignon
We followed the Rick Steves walking tour and reading his commentary on our Kindle. The whole episode of the Pope thing is a bit confusing. After the church “bought” Avignon, popes resided here from 1309 until 1403. Italians demanded a Roman pope so from 1378 onward there were two popes, one in Avignon and one in Rome. In fact there was one period with no fewer than three popes. Go figure. We intentionally skipped the interior of the Palace of the Popes and enjoyed the wonderful fall day.
