Visiting Villeneuve-Lez-Avignon
The modern world is impinging on Avignon, but across the Rhône, the Middle Ages slumber on. When the popes lived in exile at Avignon, cardinals built palaces (livrées) across the river. Many visitors prefer to stay or dine here rather than in Avignon. Villenueve-lez-Avignon lies just across the Rhône from Avignon and is easiest to reach on bus no. 11, which crosses the pont Daladier.
For information about the town, contact the Office de Tourisme, 1 place Charles David (tel. 04-90-25-61-33; fax 04-90-25-91-55; www.villeneuvelesavignon.fr/tourisme).
Cardinal Arnaud de Via founded the Eglise Notre-Dame, place Meissonier (tel. 04-90-25-46-24), in 1333. Other than its architecture, the church's most popular attraction is an antique copy (by an unknown sculptor) of Enguerrand Charonton's Pietà, the original of which is in the Louvre. The church is open April to September daily 10am to 12:30pm and 2 to 6:30pm; October to March daily 10am to noon and 2 to 5pm. Admission is free.
