Former papal residence before Vatican - Historic Centre of Avignon: Papal Palace, Episcopal Ensemble and Avignon Bridge 1995; Gastronomic meal of the French 00437
What and Why
Avignon was the papal residence, the equivalence of present day Vatican (Latin: Vaticana) during the 14th century CE and served seven popes, during which the period is referred to as the Avignon papacy. It was Pope Clement V (Latin: Clemens V, né Raymond De Got) who made the move, when the Roman aristocrats were fighting politically with its military and various internal factions. The pope, and the French used security as a reason to move the papacy away from Rome (Latin: Roma) to get away from the in-fightings, and eventually this lasted for nearly 70 years. Avignon during that time was part of the Kingdom of Arles (Latin: Regnum Arelatense) under the Holy Roman Empire (Latin: Sacrum Imperium Romanum) and was technically not part of France. As a result, Avignon brims with an air of mediaeval religious solemnity and power, especially its papal palace. Hence during the visit it was like a time-travel back to the 14th century CE Vatican!
Toponymy
The direct meaning of the name is untraceable. The origin of the name comes from the Greek word Аὐενιὼν (Aueniṑn), reported by the famous Greek astronomer Claudius Ptolemy (Greek: Κλαύδιος Πτολεμαῖος, Klaúdios Ptolemaîos).
See
Papal Palace (Palais des Papes)
Papal Palace (French: Palais des Papes) is the historical palace located in the city and is one of the largest and most important mediaeval Gothic buildings in Europe. The Palace is actually two joined buildings: the old palace of Benedict XII (Latin: Benedictus XII, né Jacques Fornier), which sits a big solid rock, and the new palace of Clement VI (Latin: Clemens VI, né Pierre Roger).
The palace was built in two principal phases with two distinct segments, known as the Old Palace (Palais Vieux) and New Palace (Palais Neuf), with the old one sitting on the rock. By the time of its completion, it occupied an exceptionally large area of 11,000 m2.
While there was some lavishness and extravagance during its construction in the 13th century CE and hence the building became stunningly massive and overwhelming, the size of the building also changed the general organisation of the Church. The cost was naturally immense, and most of the papal income went to the palace construction.
The palace size, however, started to put all the functions and service together under one roof and facilitated the centralisation of services to suit the needs of the papacy, and started its evolution. Unfortunately the palace also became obsolete and started deteriorating soon after the papacy returned to Vatican in the late 14th century CE, although it was
occasionally used during the centuries for the anti-popes during the papal schism. The palace was slowly restored during the early 20th century CE
The palace was a celebrated piece of architecture due to its many architectural merits, as highlighted by the famed French architect Eugène Viollet-le-Duc, who restored many French landmarks including our blogged Carcassonne: the strong walls, thick and tall towers, and overall robust construction that withstood attack, wear and time.
Rooms.
The current palace is now converted to a musuem, as usual. The picture below shows the massive chapel where the pope worshipped.
The roof-top.
View from the rooftop showing the piazza and our hotel.
The chapel in the north.
A panoramic view of the piazza outside the palace.
Saint-Bénezet Bridge (Le Pont Saint-Bénezet)
The legend of the construction of the bridge, also called the Avignon bridge, was that a local shepherd, by the name Bénedict, in local dialect Bénezet, was inspired by angels to build a bridge across the river Rhône and hence tried to persuade the municipal government for the endeavour during the 12th century CE. His effort was futile and he was so upset about the government and his own persuasive skills that he decided to build the bridge barehand and he threw a huge piece of stone into the river. The boulder then sat beautifully in the middle of the river and became the foundation stone. Incredibly since then a number of healing miracles happened, and this eventually convinced the city's wealthy patrons to sponsor the project. Bénedict got himself canonised as a result, with a small chapel on the bridge dedicated for him.
If the stone bridge was divinely inspired, God must have been unconvinced, as the bridge collapsed after numerous floods and was mostly in a state of desrepair. The bridge became so expensive to maintain and rebuild that the city no longer rebuilt the collapsed part since the 17th century CE and hence the present bridge does not cross the river and terminates in the middle, becoming more like an observational outpost.
Buy and Do
Tisane
The palace sells a herbal tea blend called La Tisane du Pâpe. Tisane has no tea leaves at all and is a beverage made from the infusion of a concoction of herbs and other medicinal plants with hot water.
Lavender (Lavande)
The must-do thing around the region is the visit the lavender farms in Luberon, which is around 1 hour drive away. We drove from our full-day visit in various farms from Luberon and it was an absolutely aromatically fantastic day!
We went to a few farms, especially the celebrated Sénanque Abbey (Abbaye Notre-Dame de Sénanque). Unfortunately during our visit, the abbey just harvested all their lavenders a few weeks ago and we only saw a barren field! Hence we did not take any major photographs during our visit, and this photograph below is taken from the internet.
Some of the best and largest farms and fields, in terms of sceneries and products are actually from random fields around the road and they are simply everywhere. Absolutely unmissable.
A little bit of trivia: There are several breeds of lavender and refers to an overarching variety of plants. The common one that we usually refer to, belongs to the genus Lavandula. This mixed breed gives a stronger aroma but is usually grey than purple in colour. However the largest producer of aromatic products come from this hybrid variety called lavandin, which produces most of the products, apparently 10 times more than the so-called 'pure' lavender.
Eat and Drink
Provençal cuisine (Cuisine Provençale)
To leave this blog without documenting the Provençal cuisine (Cuisine Provençale) is just travesty. Provençal cuisine features more vegetables and local produce and is a usually very colourful, high-spirited and more basic, compared to the usual French fine-dining. This clearly reflects well on the agricultural nature of Provence as in the earlier blog of Millau.
The most famous dish is probably the bouillabaisse from Marseille, which emphatically is not a soup, but a seafood stew. Naturally this is available all over Provence with a certain degree of difference, over the selection of Provençal seafood, herbs and spices in the broth or stew. The stew can range from very light and clear to more rich and creamy bisque-like in Marseille. The word comes from the Provençal Occitan word bolhabaissa, a compound that consists of the two verbs bolhir (boil) and abaissar (simmer). Traditionally the broth and the fish meat should be brought to the table separately and eaten together.
The other dish we savoured was the ratatouille, the Provençal vegetable stew, honestly made extremely famous by its namesake animated movie Ratatouille. The dish name simply means to stir / mix in old French, which tells you how this peasant vegetable dish is prepared, although in our recent fine-dining serving, it is finely sliced and layered.
We were told by the hotel staffs that many of the restaurants in Avignon were generally over-priced and overhyped. We went to the neighbouring town called Le Pontet, where we had another wonderful dinner at Auberge de Cassagne Le Pontet. Again great service, especially when we were served a surprise birthday dessert.
Stay
We stayed Hôtel Palais des Papes, which is a superior classical hotel built in the mediaeval block just opposite to the palace. The key is not about the stay, but the service that we had been offered. We were actually supposed to stay in Hôtel Mercure Avignon Centre Palais des Papes, but there was a mix-up between the hotel and travel agent, resulting in us having no room during our arrival. The hotel staff-in-charge immediately took responsibility and liaised with its neighbouring hotel and helped us relocate. While there was a tiny mishap, we were extremely grateful for their service and more importantly their proactiveness and politeness in handling the situation. They were equally appreciative for our understanding, patience, and my French articulateness, the officer told us we were some of the most understanding clienteles they have met. I believe this simply tell us what kind of world we are living in: most problems are simply caused by misunderstanding, lack of responsibility, and the over-zealousness to complain. Step back, show some patience, understanding and politeness and this will get you through.
Getting There and Around
Clearly we drove to Avignon, but Avignon is actually a very tiny place where one can manage on foot. Clearly you need to drive to see the lavenders. Avignon deserves a good two full days of visit.
UNESCO Inscriptions
In the 14th century, this city in the South of France was the seat of the papacy. The Palais des Papes, an austere-looking fortress lavishly decorated by Simone Martini and Matteo Giovanetti, dominates the city, the surrounding ramparts and the remains of a 12th-century bridge over the Rhone. Beneath this outstanding example of Gothic architecture, the Petit Palais and the Romanesque Cathedral of Notre-Dame-des-Doms complete an exceptional group of monuments that testify to the leading role played by Avignon in 14th-century Christian Europe.
The gastronomic meal of the French is a customary social practice for celebrating important moments in the lives of individuals and groups, such as births, weddings, birthdays, anniversaries, achievements and reunions. It is a festive meal bringing people together for an occasion to enjoy the art of good eating and drinking. The gastronomic meal emphasizes togetherness, the pleasure of taste, and the balance between human beings and the products of nature. Important elements include the careful selection of dishes from a constantly growing repertoire of recipes; the purchase of good, preferably local products whose flavours go well together; the pairing of food with wine; the setting of a beautiful table; and specific actions during consumption, such as smelling and tasting items at the table. The gastronomic meal should respect a fixed structure, commencing with an apéritif (drinks before the meal) and ending with liqueurs, containing in between at least four successive courses, namely a starter, fish and/or meat with vegetables, cheese and dessert. Individuals called gastronomes who possess deep knowledge of the tradition and preserve its memory watch over the living practice of the rites, thus contributing to their oral and/or written transmission, in particular to younger generations. The gastronomic meal draws circles of family and friends closer together and, more generally, strengthens social ties.
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