"Two years in Avignon" a Avignon Travel Page by queenpud

Avignon is full of history, life, youth, art, music and activity. It's a Roman town, home of the Popes of Avignon. The name Avignon comes from "Avenio" which means "town of violent winds" or "town of the river". Indeed Avignon is renowned for its bitterly cold, strong northwesterly wind "the Mistral wind". ooh not pleasant!

The best way to see avignon is to wander the narrow streets inside the fortified walls. A visit to the small park "Rocher de doms" is a must, spectacular view of the Rhône river and ofcoarse the famous bridge "pont d'avignon" and its song "Sur (on) Le Pont D'Avignon", the original text of the song was "Sous (under) le pont d'Avignon" (I dansed both on & under the bridge....so as not to get it wrong).

In July the Festival d'Avignon & the Festival Off is held. The events occur all over town, often staged at historical monuments and in the streets, and with close audience rapport.

Avignon is a good foothold to explore Provence (Provence is so named because it was one of the first provinces outside of Roman Italy). Provence boundries: east, the Alps and Italy; west, the Rhône River; south, the mediterranean Sea. Landscape range from the fertile plains in the Rhône valley to mountains in the east (Mont Ventoux, the Luberon range and the Alpilles) to the marsh land in the south (the Camargue).
Where to go, ....the list is almost endless!!
-Saint Rémy de Provence
-Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer
-Les Baux de Provence
-Châteauneuf-du-Pape (for wine lovers)
-the Lavender Road (August) between Velesole and Riez
-the Pottery Road around the small village of Moustiers Sainte-Marie
-the Verdon Gorges road, where the jade-green waters of the Verdon run in one of the most beautiful canyons of the world
-French Riviera and the famous beaches of Saint-Tropez, Saint-Raphael and Nice & Canne
-Cassis

Paul Cézanne was born in the famous Aix-en-Provence January 1839, near by the Mont Sainte-Victoire, a favourite motif of Cézanne.

Vincent van Gogh lived in provence (Feb 1888 - May1890), in Arles (monuments listed as World Heritage Sites since 1981) and in the mental hospital in Saint Rémy de Provence where he painted his famous Starry Night, June 1889 (The museum of Modern Art, New York)