When anybody first hears about the city, Avignon, the first thing that comes in their mind is the very well- known song, “Sur le Pont d’Avignon.”

Sur le pont d’Avignon
L’on y danse, l’on y danse
Sur le pont d’Avignon
L’on y danse tous en rond

On the bridge of Avignon
We all dance there, we all dance there
On the bridge of Avignon
We all dance there in a ring…

Today, I went to downtown Avignon.  The first thing I noticed was the broken bridge, Pont d’Avignon.  It’s seriously resting on the river as a completely unusable bridge!  That’s not the end of the world because it’s just simply a great monument site.  Of course, I first asked myself, why is this bridge broken?  I did some researching, and the answer was simple: The bridge was destroyed by frequent floods.  In fact, this bridge was reconstructed several times, but it was continually destroyed by floods.  In 1668, the bridge was finally stopped being rebuilt due to a major flood.

The bridge used to lie across the Rhône River between Avignon and Villeneuve-lès-Avignon. There used to be 22 arches, but only four of the 22 arches still exist.  During the Middle Ages, the bridge was a main link between several of the residences that were built by the cardinals and the Popes’ Palace, a palace inside the city of Avignon.

Interesting stuff!