Aye ’25, shares the groups visit to the city of Avignon.
Today we went to Avignon. We first took the train from Arles for a 15 minute or so ride to Avignon, and walked over to the palace de pope, a massive “chateau” that served as a symbol of Avignon and the place of residence for the Pope. Careful stone detailing and elegant statues framed the interior of the palace, and beautifully colored murals lined nearly every wall. I didn’t feel out of place since tourists packed the building. My very frank, initial reaction was to be a bit upset that the morning was cold and gray. However, it was easy to stay optimistic once we got there, and the gray clouds quickly were replaced with blue skies and a beaming sun. The palace was now used as a museum, the insides filled with historically significant artifacts. We were each given a tablet, allowing us to scan certain barcodes that rested on the exterior of the artifacts and get a virtual tour of what the room looked like thousands of years ago, when it was fully furnished and in use. The palace was huge, to say the least, and included an extravagant garden. Vines hung from wooden canopies, rows of beautiful vegetation, every inch of the ground was intentionally covered with a seemingly artificial shade of green.
After our tour, we sat outside to eat our lunch, and had three hours of temps libre or free time. We enjoyed our sandwiches in a park and quickly began to explore and buy things on the busy streets of Avignon. There was no shortage of places to investigate. There were many stores that we were familiar with like H&M, KFC, Sephora, and McDonald’s. But, also many small companies that were French and local. Some indoor and some outdoor, that sold an extensive range of things. Today was definitely my favorite so far, and I’m excited for the adventures to come.
-Aye ’25
