Roman France - Avignon
Our final stop in Provence was the town of Avignon, which from the early 14th to the early 15th century was the de facto center of the Catholic church (think Vatican City, but in France). Apparently things in Italy were getting a little rough during this time so the Pope decided to pack up and move to a less hectic place. 
As a result, Avignon became the center of the Catholic church and was until in the end of the 1300s when the Pope returned to Rome causing the Great Schism. From 1378 to 1415 there were actually two Popes, one in Avignon and one in Rome (although the Avignon Pope wasn't officially recognized as Pope by the Roman Catholic Church). History lesson over.
The Palace of the Popes is the main attraction in Avignon (a rather large city actually) and was the main reason for our visit. It is quite the impressive structure, and contains many unique items which assist in retelling the story of Papal Avignon. The Palace takes about two hours or so to walk through, and when you add in the adjoining church and gardens expect to spend about three hours. We all decided to stop for a treat as well (one of us had a crepe, one had ice cream, and the other had Diet Coke...
guess which one had which) which allowed us to enjoy the garden a little longer (wouldn't want to drip ice cream inside the church now would we?). We then spent the remainder of our time walking through the streets of Avignon making our legs extraordinarily tired, one of us throwing a temper tantrum (yea, that would be me...I was hungry, exhausted, and tired of being the Official Translator of the Lutheran Emissary from Michigan, USA and his daughter-in-law...but I eventually quit being a grouse and we managed to enjoy the rest of the time in Avignon), and ending the evening with a nice meal while watching yet another deluge outside. We managed to stay mostly dry although we had umbrellas so that helped (although the streets resembled small rivers so I can't say our feet made it out unscathed).
In summary, Avignon is a large town with a big castle built for the Popes. It is well worth the time to stop and check it out, but stay outside of the city (or in nearby Arles) if you ever plan on visiting this area. 
(For some reason this blog is starting to sound more like a travel book...intriguing idea, but then I'd have to actually edit my entries and add more details, which is something I won't have time to do once my time as a man of leisure expires in a few weeks).
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