A Flânerie through Avignon

Flâneur. Strolling without purpose. Someone who, according to Google, saunters around observing society. It's a concept I know but haven't practised much until last year inRome.

So, on a crisp morning between autumn and winter in Avignon, with no planned itinerary and no list of must-see spots, that's exactly what we did. With the historical centre's cobbled streets, winding passageways, and sun-washed buildings, the city seems built for wandering.

Without a specific plan or agenda, we set off, and this is what we discovered:

Breakfast

Breakfast We started our day just outside Avignon with a typical French breakfast of pains au chocolat and coffee from Maison Calvino. The popular bakery had already sold out of the traditional flavour we'd been hoping to try, so we settled for an orange one and a hazelnut one. We split the sticky, flaky pastries and devoured them quickly to a satisfying soundtrack of "uhmmms" and "ahhhs".

Arriving in Avignon

We found parking just outside a gate to the old city. Entering it, we started wandering, ducking down quaint roads that appealed to us and occasionally stopping to take photographs.

As we meandered further into the centre, we started reading menus, trying to decide where to stop for lunch. Drifting around Basilique Saint-Pierre, we found a couple of quirky streets, an old synagogue, and a slew of restaurants and cafes. After passing Chez Lizette's twice, we decided it was the place for us and settled in along the streetside terrace in the early afternoon sun.

Lunch at Chez Lizette

A popular spot with locals and tourists alike, based on the mix of languages and accents we heard, Chez Lizette offered traditional fare. We ordered a carafe of water, a burger, and a mushroom pasta. The flavours were good, the pace unhurried. We whiled away an hour people-watching from our small terrace table.

The Square

After lunch, we meandered through the old town, making our way to the open square before the Palais des Papes and its opulent statue. While we decided not to go in on this visit, we spent some time soaking up the open-air art displayed around the square, snapping photos as tourists mingled around us.

The Bridge

From the Palais des Papes, we decided to make our way to Le Pont Saint Bénezet or, as it’s more commonly known, the Pont d’Avignon. This time, we chose to pay the entry fee to cross the bridge – something that neither of us had done in all our years visiting Provence. As we reached the end of the half-bridge (part of it swept away in a flood many decades ago), we turned around to take in the impressive view of the Old Town. The cloudy and moody weather cast the stone city in a dramatic glow. Underneath us, the Rhône river moved in several directions, unsure of where it wanted to go. Perhaps it, too, was enjoying a flânerie.

We ended our time in Avignon on the bridge, slowly making our way back to the car, following the line of the Old Town wall as much as we could.