More on Avignon, France

We are continuing to enjoy our time in Avignon and, as I mentioned in last week’s post, now that the weather has cooled, we’re seeing more of the city. Musée du Petit Palais, was on our list of sites to see.

Housed in a building not far from the Palais des Papes, it dates back to the early 1300s and was originally used as a residence for the bishops of Avignon. It had multiple uses over the years including being used as a Catholic secondary school, and later as a technical school. It suffered severe damage during various wars and attacks from neighboring forces, but was always repaired. Here you’ll find collections of Renaissance paintings from Italy, as well as antiques and a display of early painting materials.

The first display explains that early painters used wood, not canvas for their creations. Shown here is a good collection of early painting brushes and ingredients for making paint.

The building itself is beautiful.

It became a national monument in 1910, a museum in 1976 and a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1995. Even better, admission is free; c’est gratuit!

Sunday, August 25th was the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Avignon after WWII, and a celebration was in full swing in Place de l’Horloge when we wandered through.

I always speak in French while here, however, the man in the photo below looked so much like an American military officer that I spoke to him in English; he had me fooled! When I received his deer in the headlights look, I quickly apologized and switched to French. He was more than happy to have his photo taken.

We’ve wandered through several parks including Square Agricol Perdiguier, where you’ll see ruins of a Benedictine Gothic cloister, a botanical garden and restaurant.

The telephone booth was a gift from Colchester, Avignon’s twin city.

Another beautiful garden here, Jardin Petramale has a romantic history; in April, 1327, it was the meeting place of Laure de Noves and the Italian poet, Francesco Petrarca. She would later become his muse, and he wrote 366 poems about his love for her. Today, it is a lovely, quiet garden to enjoy some tranquility.

Ian at IJM Photography, suggested I include a few black and white photos in my posts; what do you think?

We still have a few more weeks here before heading to Germany to see our niece, her husband and children, and then returning to the states in October.

We spent last weekend in Marseille with my cousin and his partner, I’ll write about that in a few weeks. However, click here to read theTravelsketcher’s post about our weekend with them, which was lovely.

As always, I would love to hear from you, so leave a message if you wish.

Wishing you grand adventures,

Tricia