Day trip to Avignon!

The day after we went to the Camargue we went to Avignon. I had really been looking forward to seeing the Papal Palace, which was built in the late Middle Ages for the Avignon Popes (go Wikipedia "papal schism," I can't be bothered to recap the whole story). 

Walking through the Palace was mind-blowing.  As Notre Dame was primarily impressive because of the detail that went into it, the Palais des Papes was primarily impressive because it. was. HUGE. I also took to it because it fulfilled many of the stereotypes that any good medieval castle should: It had towers galore, complete with tiny, winding staircases, crazy secret passages, a bagillion rooms, each with its own wonderfully esoteric purpose, and crosses everywhere, even in holes in the wall:

The other big attraction in Avignon is the partially-collapsed bridge over the Rhône:

You got to walk right up to the edge and everything. It was pretty cool too.

Those two attractions took up most of our morning and afternoon, and we headed back to Aix-en-Provence, to enjoy yet another al-fresco dinner (I think the number that weren't outside for our whole trip was less than four).