Wednesday 7 January 2009

Sur le pont d'Avignon

First Corfu was eliminated, then the Amalfi coast/Sorrento area was thought to be too hilly so that went by the board as well. We finally decided to go back to Provence this year and I tracked down what appears to be a very pretty little cottage in a village just 3 miles from the one Peter Mayle lived in (A Year in Provence).

To get there, we drive the Autoroute du Sud as far as Avignon and then head east into the Luberon. We visited Avignon a couple of years back. In fact, we stayed there overnight on our previous trip to Provence. The Papal palace is magnificent, but the famous bridge was just a little disappointing. It stretches part way across the river Rhone, rather more than half of it having fallen down. According to a guide book I was reading, the song is wrong: the locals danced beneath the bridge (sous le pont) not as the song has it, on the bridge (sur le pont). That would not have been as difficult as it might at first appear. The bridge starts from the top of a cliff and they could have danced on the river bank, although that is not to be recommended nowadays as it forms the very busy Avignon ring road!

The Yellow Rose of Texas?
Maybe tomorrow.

1 comment:

(not necessarily your) Uncle Skip said...

Boy oh boy! You almost had a song title there at Les Levandes.