Our last day of our three-day road trip was in Avignon, France. We have heard so much about this town and we were looking forward to ending our road trip around Provence here. Nîmes is still in the lead for our favorite city in the region, but Avignon was very interesting, and charming.

The pope lived in Avignon from 1309 to 1377 rather than Rome.  The Palace of the Popes was built to awe the masses, and it is huge. The self-tour included augmented reality tablets, which showed how the rooms were decorated and what they were used for. We had a lot of fun with them.

Lunch was also a treat. We went to Restaurant Bar a Vin Le 46. Try saying that fast three times after a couple of glasses of wine. The food was good, and wine was excellent. It was so cozy inside and they had a dog (on drugs from a surgery) curled up in a corner.

Avignon is well known for it’s partial bridge across the Rhone river. This bridge was built in the 12th century and it no longer crosses the river. It was damaged just forty years after it was completed and never repaired. We took a stroll on top of the bridge, but the wind was trying to dump us off the bridge into the river so we gave up and headed back to calmer ground. It is still a must see and I can’t help but wonder how it would be in the spring when the trees are leafed out and there is more sunshine.

This was our last chance to explore France before heading to Spain in a couple of days. We still can’t believe our journey in France is coming to an end. Nous aimons la France, we love France.