Avignon Pictures III
Palais des Papes

Seen from the interior of the Palais des Papes is the gilded virgin belonging to next door's Cathédral Notre-Dame-des-Doms, Avignon.

And the bad news is...in contrast to the mesmerising, fantasy gothic exterior, the interior of the Popes' Palace is really quite dreary and uninteresting. Open daily from about 9 am to 5.45pm [winter] or 8pm [summer], self guided walking tours offer good multi-lingual handsets that inspire total loss of brain function within minutes.

One of many apparently austere but actually denuded rooms, lacking any sign of the baroque 'n' roll of the extravagant life and times of the Popes, cardinals and their corrupt courtiers.

The most interesting room in the Palace, possibly Chapelle St-Jean but how would we know, we had lost the ability to absorb audio-data, or in fact any data, at this point. The Asian gentleman at the back, on the other hand, has been trained to listen and learn anything through a childhood spent memorising kanji.

A relief frieze in the same chapel as above, probably by Matteo Giovenetti in 1346, the court artist.

One Pope and two cardinals, or three Popes, or possibly three papal clones.

Aaah, c'est le vin! So it was all a clever ruse to sell wines to desperate, debilitated visitors!

The last room of the Palace tour is the official Papal wine cellar, La Bouteillerie, offering tastings and sales of any Pope-related grape varieties, including of course, Côtes du Rhône that is grown nearby as well as Chateauneuf-du-Papes.

An easy drive from Avigon are Aix-en-Provence, Pont du Gard and Nimes.

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