Photos of Paris-Provence Part-5 of 8

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Photographs from Paris-Provence tour--2008-10

(Part-5: Avignon, Palais des Papes, TVG, Gare de Lyon,)

 

2008-10-07, Avignon

A city where popes and antipopes resided during the 14th century.  The Palace of Popes has been turned into a museum. 

 

Bridge on River Rhone

Bridge of Saint Bénézet.  (Bénézet = little Benedict)  Its legacy?  In 1178, A shepherd boy Bénézet said, God told him to build the bridge on the River Rhone, and proved his divine ability by throwing a huge rock into the river. People were impressed and started to build the bridge altogether. Before that time, there were no bridges on the river from Lyon down to the Mediterranean.  The 900 meter bridge with 22 arches collapsed many times over the centuries, and after a flooding in 1668, people gave up and left it there.  Obviously the river was much wider centuries ago.

 

Town rampart

 

Papal Palace.

 

Palais des Papes

The Papal Palace, UNESCO's World Heritage Site, is built like a fortress.  Although inside the walled city of Avignon, with all those wars, they needed to fortify the palace.

Entrance to the Papal Palace

 

Mr. and Mrs Daus, Mrs. Chang. The church for the popes, Notre Dame des Doms, in the background.  The Palace is to its right.

Chidren visiting the Palace

Palace Court Yard

Exit door of the Palace.  Photography is forbidden inside the museum.

 

Fred and Norma with George and Hwei Chang, and my wife Yui-li.

 

Onion soup was very good here!

In the Palace court yard

 

 

TVG, Gare (train station) de Lyon

TGV = train à grande vitesse = high-speed train

Avignon Train station.

The first class seat in TVG.  The ride was pretty quiet and fast. 139 Km/hour.  I can tell you that the high speed train in Taiwan is quieter and faster, up to 250-270 Km/hour.

 

Inside the Gare de Lyon, one of the 6 train stations in Paris.

 

A pretty expensive restaurant, le Train Bleu, in the Station, since 1901.

 

Gare de Lyon, built in 1900 for the World Exposition.

 

The clock tower is similar in style to the Big Ben on the UK Houses of Parliament.

 

Hotel du Louvre in Paris

A Hotel du Louvre, a land mark 5-story hotel.  Napoleon III inaugurated it in 1855.

Opera House facing the Hotel du Louvre, about 1 KM away.

 

The other side of the hotel.

 

 

Restaurant of the Hotel

 

Started to feel tired.  We ate rather quietly.  Did not forget to take photos though.  Watch me in the mirror.

 

( continued to :  Photos of Paris-Provence, Part-6 of 8   )