Destination: Villeneuve-lès-Avignon, France

While in Avignon over my birthday weekend, I made a short trip over to Villeneuve-lès-Avignon, a small town located just three kilometers from the city. I hadn’t visited many small places in the south of France, so I was keen on checking out the surrounding areas and what they had to offer.

Also written as “Villeneuve-lez-Avignon,” this medieval town is famous for its 14th-century fort, called the Fort Saint-André. Its construction had been ordered by Philippe-le-Bel, the French king at the time. A former fortress, it has since been the top site to visit for those coming from Avignon, many of whom choose to do a short day trip to the town itself. What’s interesting to note is that, despite the incredibly-short distance between Avignon and Villeneuve-lès-Avignon, they’re actually in different regions of France, with the former in Provence and the latter in Occitanie (the same department as Toulouse, located over three hours away)– mind blown!

Along with an assistante whom my friend knows, we caught the line 5 bus at the university stop over to the Office de Tourisme in Villeneuve-lès-Avignon. It was a short ride, no more than 20 minutes, and soon enough, we set out on foot over to the famous Fort Saint-André, pausing halfway to take photos of the rooftop views of the town.

It was a short hike up to the entrance of the fort, as it’s situated on the hill Mont Andaon. From the top, one can get fantastic views of Avignon from afar, particularly the Palais des Papes. We could also see the Tour Philippe-le-Bel, a watchtower which had been in used until the 17th century, after the pont Saint-Bénézet had ceased halfway through construction.

In front of the fort, there was a sweeping bed of greenery and colorful flowers which indicated that springtime was, indeed, here. Despite the *unfortunately* overcast day, the scenery looked absolutely wonderful. In fact, one could mistaken it for Ireland, which is a huge leap from the south of France!

We got in our much-needed photo opportunities in front of Fort Saint-André, and then we headed into the inner walls. Paying about 6€ admission fee, we spent the next hour or so visiting the interior of the fort, which offered a surprising amount of sites to see. From the map guide the welcome desk had given us, we made a circuit throughout the fort.

We started in the Tuscany-inspired gardens which, in spite of the dreary skies, still retained the warm, Mediterranean glow that I could imagine in full bloom during the summer. We took photos with the dozen or so statues in the main courtyard, along with the palais Abbatial in the background and the verdant pergolas under which we strolled under to our next site on the map.

Reaching a terrace, we got wind-sweeping views of Avignon from the distance, which of course called for more photo opportunities. We came across a tiny chapel, the Chapelle Sainte-Rosaline, which could literally fit no more than ten people inside. Soon thereafter, we wrapped up our visit of the fort and exited the main grounds.

On our way back to the bus stop, we strolled through the old, narrow streets of town before arriving in the town center. We made it back to the stop where we caught the bus back to Avignon in the late afternoon. Even though we’d only visited Fort Saint-André, it was good to see a bit more of the south of France outside of the main cities. I’d like to return to Villeneuve-lès-Avignon to see more of it, especially on a sunny day!

That concludes my brief, but enjoyable visit to the Avignon region this past weekend. If anything, it was a way to get away from the dreary, cold skies near Lyon– anything to bask in the warm, southern-France sun, really! Hope to make more small trips soon, so stay tuned for them– until then!

 

— Rebecca