“Sur le Pont d’Avignon” is a 15th century French song about Pont d’Avignon. The bridge is officially Pont St. Bénézet, but it is known as the Pont d’Avigno, where, as the song says … people dance. Our guide said that the dance actually took place under the bridge and not on the bridge – so the song should be ‘sous’ not ‘sur. But, over time …. well, we know how things change.
If you took French in school, I’m sure you learned it! There are several verses, but here’s the chorus (feel free to sing along).
Sur le Pont d’Avignon
L’on y danse, l’on y danse
Sur le Pont d’Avignon
L’on y danse tous en rond
On the bridge of Avignon
We’re all dancing, we’re all dancing
On the bridge of Avignon
We’re all dancing round and round
Anyway, on to our day …. this city, in the Provence region, was the seat of the Catholic Church from 1309 to 1377. (I won’t explain the whole thing – Are we tired of my history and geography babble yet?) The legacy is evident in the massive Pope’s Palace and the medieval ramparts which surround the whole city. I’m always stunned that these stone structures, built in the 14th century, built to protect the city, still stand strong.
We walked the narrow passageways to the Place de l’Horage – place of the clock. We perused many many shop windows – if you were into serious clothes, shoes, and accessories … this was the place! Fun to window shop and then walk through old town.
We had lunch in this great outdoor area, where restaurants are lined up, one after another. But wow were we dumb here … we each ordered salad and a pasta dish – thinking lunch portions – it was enough to feed six people! We laughed a lot.
I had two pictures (one won’t load, of course), so you could see the length of this ‘food court’ – with about 12 outdoor stalls and their indoor counterpart behind them.
We were tired and hot after our historical march back to the ship so we opted for a short nap and then off to dinner with our favorite people … and ….
chateaubriand
and opera cake!
