Marseille – pronounced Mar-SAY.  Marseille is in the south of France and the largest port city in the country.  It’s located 479 miles south of Paris.  

We arrived in the port of Marseille, France on the morning of April 12th.  It looked like fog had lifted and we could see a blue sky starting to peek through. We entered a harbor protected by a seawall.  In the distance, we could see a beautiful train trestle with at least 8 arches.

This morning we are going on a tour to Avignon.  Pronounced a-vuhn-yaan.  Go ahead, give it a try.  Now with your best French accent.  Nice!

We boarded a bus and left the port, traveling through the pretty countryside.  We then passed through the small town of Marignane, which is headquarters for Airbus’ helicopter division.  We drove northwest for 1 hour and arrived in the old city of Avignon.  We could see the old wall from the ancient city on the Rhone River.  The sky is now overcast and gray.  We parked by the famous St Benezet Bridge (12th century), the one made famous by the nursery rhyme “Sur le Pont d’Avignon”.  As one of only 3 bridges crossing the mighty Rhone River in the Middle Ages, this strategically important span carried pilgrims, merchants and armies in and out of town.  Over the years, floods damaged the bridge several times but in 1668, one particularly disastrous flood destroyed a big portion of the bridge.

The city’s history dates back to well before when the Romans came to town.  It was the Catholic Church that put Avignon on the map.  In 1309, a French Pope was elected and feared Italy too dangerous, moved the papacy to Avignon, where he could enjoy a secure rule under a supportive French king.  They cleared out spaces for public squares and built a three acre papal palace.  The church then erected more than 3 miles of protective wall (and 39 towers), mansions for cardinals, and residences for its bureaucracy.  Avignon was Europe’s largest construction zone and it’s population grew from  6,000 to 25,000 (today approx 13,000 live within its walls).

The massive Palace of the Popes was the most fortified palace of all time and had 10-foot thick walls.  Definitely a symbol of power and today it’s the largest surviving Gothic palace in Europe.  In all, seven popes ruled from here for nearly 100 years.  

We strolled into the walled city and up a hill.  The streets are, as you can imagine, narrow and most still cobblestone.  Suddenly, our view opened up and we were standing in a public square with a backdrop that looked like something from a medieval fairy tale.  The Palace Of The Popes.  Our guide lead us through into the palace and explained the rooms that we walked through.  Most of it is completely empty but you could see the money that was put into this fortification.  Once one pope left, the next one would order an addition so it was all their own.  One area was the private residential area of a pope that still had painted walls in dark blue and gold designs throughout.  We were not allowed to take photos in that area, but they had a painting of what it would have looked like.  The dining room was enormous, as popes would always have an audience of those wanting their attention.  I can’t even imagine what that palace looked during that time period.  

Eventually, the papacy moved back to Italy.  In June 1376, St Catherine went to Avignon herself as the ambassador of Florence to make peace and urge the Pope to return to Rome.  The pope was impressed by Catherine and a year later, the papacy returned to the eternal city of Rome.  

After touring the palace, we walked into the town of Avignon where there were many tree lined streets, filled with restaurants, shops and cafes.  Our tour included lunch in a small restaurant.  We had lunch with a nice couple from the ship that we had not met before (Stephen and Natalie).  They were from Ottawa (one of our favorite cities).  We had a nice conversation as we ate our lunch and then some free time for some shopping before heading back to the port.

We wandered back up the hill into a public square that had vendors selling their goods.  I stopped to look at some earrings and next thing I knew, the woman removed my earrlngs and put in new earrings and handed me a mirror.  O, that was surprising.  She was very nice and of course, we didn’t speak each others language but were able to communicate just fine.  I purchased a pair of earrings from her and she gave me a hug.  Another friend from France (smile).  We didn’t have much time but we were able to stop at some small shops and buy some souvenirs for friends back home.

Our guide told us that they were expecting protests in France tomorrow due to the proposed change in retirement age in France (from 62 to 64).  

We walked back to the bus and had a relaxing ride back to the port as we thought about the places we’ve seen.  Another beautiful day.  The sky cleared up as we arrived at the port that made for a stunning sunset.  

Au devoir – goodbye France.  Merci!