News-Letter

Having spent this summer studying abroad in Avignon, I got to know the city first as a tourist and later as a resident.

Avignon, France is an old medieval walled city, with one major claim to fame: for nearly a century it replaced Rome as the home of the papacy. This brought it an enormous amount of wealth, business and visitors to the city.

Many came by way of the famous Pont (bridge) d'Avignon that was built across the Rhone River to connect the city to other points of France, creating an important river port. The bridge no longer crosses the river; it breaks off less than half way across, destroyed by the frequent and severe flooding of the Rhone.

The first week or so after I arrived, I took required guided tours of the city with my program and the classes I was taking. I began to explore the city on my own after these planned activities.

Wandering around, sometimes lost, and forced to ask for directions, I recognized the major monuments, like the huge papal palace (Palais des Papes), the beautiful hill-top garden surrounding it (Rocher des Doms) and, of course, the famous bridge (Pont d'Avignon).

Many places were hidden from the typical wave of tourists; there was the popular park where people sat on shady benches for lunch and the quiet, little street flanked with huge old trees where people sat outside at a caf8e, lazily sipping their coffee away from the busy center of the city. My favorite place was just outside the city, across the Rhone: a long, rural island called L'Ile de la Barthelasse.

Through the program, the summer students were given bikes to get around the city.

My bike was so old and rackety that when I rode it people would turn around and stare, and I really thought it had the potential to just fall into pieces if I hit a cobblestone too hard. Fortunately, it made it through the summer and I got used to riding it everywhere, especially to the island.

It's amazing how much different the scenery was once I crossed the Rhone. Away from the hazy heat of the dense streets of Avignon, L'Ile de la Berthelasse has shady trees, few roads, and fields of fruit trees and wheat. It reminded me of a Van Gogh painting, with cypress pines, tall and blowing in the wind, the blue sky with thin wispy white clouds, fields of wheat literally golden under the sun and the occasional sunflower adding a burst of vibrant, contrasting color.

There were always trees with fruits that were beginning to ripen. At first, it was peaches, nectarines and plums. When those were harvested, the apples and pears started to take on more and more color. Mules, horses and wild chickens all over the road added to the agricultural flair of the island.

Along with the things I discovered just wandering around on my own, I got a lot of help from the host family I was staying with. They were really good at suggesting things that were off the beaten path - things that could only be found through exploration.

They pointed me to an isolated rocky beach on the Mediterranean from which you could see Marseille across the water. They took me to a huge colorful outdoor market with produce, clothing, jewelry, house wares, books and more.

With them, I went swimming in a cold stream under the grandiose Roman aqueduct, the Pont du Gard. They encouraged me to try as many different types of traditional Provencal cuisine, including delicious and sweet fresh figs, many varieties of goat cheese, truffles, and olives.

Now, at the end of the summer, I don't think I could recite all of the historical facts I heard numerous times about Avignon or take an exam on that lecture about the construction and significance of the city's walls, but I could definitely tell you where to go to have the nicest view of the city, where you can find the best ice cream or the best sandwiches for lunch and where to eat them in the shade, but out of the line of fire of pigeons.

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