Welcome to Avignon, an ancient city on the Rhone River not too far from the sea. It boasts a colorful past and a no less colorful present.

Originally know as Avenio, the town seems to have been organized by the Romans sometime during the second century BC. "Avenio" is thought to mean "town of the river" or perhaps "town of violent wind". Both meanings fit.

The Romans established a town on the Rocher des Doms, a high bump overlooking the river, now occupied by the Pope's Gardens. They also established a petite conglomeration down on the banks of the river itself. They were not the first ones there of course. The Greeks from Marseilles had already set up a trading post there to service their river trading fleet as well as their sea-going fleet. Before the Greeks was a celto-ligurian population, the Cavares, who had taken over an early Neolithic settlement. A bump beside a river is a good place to live. People figured that our very early on.

In the eight century Charles Martel, the victor over the Islamic armies at Poitiers sacked Avignon. It seems there were still a few Saracens left in Provence after all and quite a few left in Avignon. After rebuilding and re-populating their town the surviving residents, having had enough of this sort of thing, instigated a sort of municipal republic, presided over by a bishop. They set up their own currency mint and established their own small army. They also started a new set of walls around the town. Through the centuries the walls have been maintained. They completely encircle the city and are, in the words of one visitor, "whamo".

The 12th century saw the construction of the "Pont d'Avignon" (Pont St-Bénezet) made famous by the song. Poor maintenance, or as we say in New York City, "passive maintenance" coupled with the vagaries of the Rhône led to the collapse of a number of arches. The bridge isn't needed now, of course, as there is a new one just downstream, but it is fun to walk out on and maybe dance a little....

Eight hundred years ago the real estate situation in this part of the world was a little confused. A rather large tract of land between the Rhône and the Mont Ventoux, of Tour de France fame, theoretically belonged to the Holy See. The Popes in Rome thus had a sort of weekend place in southern France. It was also more centrally located in relation to the Christian states of Europe. The first pope to "get out of town" and avail himself of the relatively calmer atmosphere of Provence was Clément V who installed his court within the walls of Avignon in the early thirteen hundreds. His successor was Jean XXII who decided to make the move permanent.

Despite opposition from the Italians who denounced the "new captivity of Babylon", the next pope, Benoît XII undertook the construction of a larger and better fortified palace. When you visit the palace and view the portraits of the popes lining the walls, you may notice they all look remarkable alike. Your eyes are not deceiving you. The artist used the same model over and over again just changing hats and robes. shades of Alec Guinness and Peter Sellers. The cathedral Notre Dame des Doms, the other important edifice from the XII century. The cathedral has been partially destroyed and rebuilt on many occasions. Amongst other additions a large statue of the Virgin was added in 1859, but not to the unanimous acclaim of historians and art critics.

Until the French Revolution, Avignon was governed by a Papal legate and then a vice-legate. On the 14th September 1791, with the accord of the majority of the population, the constituent Assembly voted for the reintegration of the Comtat Venaissin to France.

Each year during the month of July Avignon hold its International Theatre Festival and the town goes wild. Literally hundreds of productions are presented, several dozen each day. The scale of performance runs from full size mise en scene to street theatre to single street performers. One lady sings operatic arias to an appreciative audience while competing for (auditory) space with the guy selling bird whistles just down the block. When not actually performing the artists spend a lot of time parading through the streets noisily touting their shows. Take a look. We're talking bedlam here. Don't plan on staying in a hotel here unless you reserve long ahead. Don't plan on staying in a hotel if you want to get a good night's sleep.

I spent a few delightful days here a couple of years ago staying in the Camping Municipal situated on the Isle de St.Benezet in the middle of the Rhone. The camp is clean, quiet, secure and quite attractive. It has the single best view of the city it's possible to find. After biking day loops out to Les Baux and the Pont du Gard for a few days when my friends arrived with their bikes on the train we set out for Nice.

Avignon has some advantages for a cyclist; the Durance River flows in to the Rhone here from the east. If you are biking down the Rhone heading for the sea you can make a left here, avoid the metroplex of Marseilles and head directly for the hedonism of the Cote d'Azur.