We walked the scenic route to get to the town square in Avignon. After crossing through the ramparts, my husband and I made the steady climb up the stone sidewalks, straddled on either side with small shops.
Outside, fragrant cut lavender hung in bundles on the racks. Soaps, towels and other wares were also strategically exhibited to entice shoppers.
We gave the items our attention, but our thoughts remained on our true destination: the Palais des Papes overlooking the city square.
In its 14th century beginnings, the medieval palace served as the home for seven popes, including Benedict XII, who built the east and north sections known as the Old Palace, and Clement VI, who built the New Palace, the south and west sections.
During this time, the walls would have been filled with music emanating through the great halls. With people congregating. Decisions being made.
While the divide in the Catholic Church continued, two popes of the papal schism also established residency there before the papacy ultimately returned to Rome. Taking along with it all the riches housed there.
Unfortunately, the ensuing years, especially during the French Revolution, proved to be very dark.
Now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Palais des Papes was eventually presented to the public in the early 1900s and converted to a museum.
While at the palace, we wandered through over 20 rooms of the architectural wonder. Viewed countless fading frescoes. Marveled over chapels. Admired the art on display.
We walked the perimeter of the courtyard, using our imaginations to envision how the setting served its previous occupants. We strolled the terrace overlooking the courtyard below, the city and the Rhone in the distance.
In addition to housing art exhibits, the palace is also the setting for annual concerts and festivals. It’s also the backdrop for numerous other cultural events.
Like other destinations in France and the rest of the world, the museum is now closed to visitors until further notice due to Covid-19.
We are all living through a time when much of what we once knew, and what we know, is going to look different in the foreseeable future. Eating in restaurants, shopping. Traveling. Visiting museums and attending concerts and festivals.
The Palais des Papes has a history all its own. A history complete with a past, a present. And it will have a future.
Until that time when the future of travel is revealed, we continue to express profound gratitude for those in the medical profession and those working in positions deemed essential to our day-to-day existence, and we especially keep the suffering close in our hearts and prayers.
(Note: Marjorie Appelman is an English, communications and journalism teacher at Mason County High School and co-founder of Tales from the Trip, which is on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. She can be reached at marj.appelman@gmail.com.)
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