- By Nathalie Daguet

When I lived in Australia and mentioned that my hometown in France was Avignon, the almost invariable reaction was for someone to sing Sur le pont d’Avignon (On the Bridge of Avignon). Could it be the single most commonly song used in French classes throughout the world? In any case it seems befitting to start a series of posts about Avignon with a few words about the history of this graceful bridge.

Flowing due south from Geneva in the Swiss Alps to the Mediterranean, the Rhone River is France’s mightiest and wildest river. Back in the Middle Ages, after Arles’s Roman antique bridge collapsed there was no bridge south of Lyons until the mouth of the river some 300 kilometres (186 miles) to the south. The river was therefore crossed by boat, a sometimes perilous expedition on this fast flowing river renown for its frequent floods and ever-shifting sandbanks.

As legend has it, in 1171 a young shepherd named Benezet who lived in the high hills of Provence and had never even seen the river, heard a voice telling him that a bridge must be built over the Rhone at Avignon. Guided by an angel he walked to the city and explained his vision to the authorities. Met by disbelief, Benezet convinced them of God’s will by lifting an enormous piece of rock which he carried to the riverbank. This so impressed the locals that fundraising started immediately and construction work began soon after.

The bridge was completed in 1185 after only eight years, a record speed for such a remarkable edifice: 22 arches, 920 metres long and 4 metres wide. The fact that Avignon was the only point in Provence where the river could be crossed safely on foot brought considerable traffic and wealth to the city, thanks to both the bridge toll and the increased economic activity. Economically, following the little shepherd’s vision was an excellent move! Benezet would eventually be named a saint and the bridge then took the name Pont Saint Benezet.

The bridge’s story doesn’t stop there. The edifice was partially destroyed by floods several times over the centuries and rebuilt every time, once more in 1628. But when the river washed away several arches again just five years later in 1633, the locals decided to abandon the site for a new one just a bit further downstream. In 1669 a new flood further destroyed the bridge and left it pretty much in the condition we know it today: out of the original 22 arches only four remain.

The photo above is of the historic Pont St Benezet in the distance as seen from under the new bridge, Pont Daladier. I never tire of photographing that old bridge from all angles, it is ever so elegant.

I took that photo during a winter flood at the Roquemaure Dam just a few kilometres upstream of Avignon. It shows how powerful the river can get.

Photos and text (c) Nathalie Daguet.

If France Revisited’s periodic dose of “Seasonal Provence” leaves you craving for more, then visit Nathalie’s bilingual daily blog, Avignon in Photos.

France Revisited is honored to welcome the words and images of Nathalie Daguet, a French photographer living in Avignon, for a new series entitled “Seasonal Provence” to begin appearing periodically on this page beginning March 1, 2010.

“Seasonal Provence” will reveal a region that is both rooted and forever changing, a region that travels while occupying the same beloved space on the map.

Nathalie’s photographs and accompanying texts go well beyond the lavender-sunflower-olive grove clichés, however beautiful those clichés may be. Indeed, Nathalie is too well aware of the richness and subtleties of the region to get stuck on clichés. Her sensibility as a traveler and as a resident of the region won’t allow it.

Before posting the first images of “Seasonal Provence” let’s start by meeting the photographer and getting a glimpse of the varied path that led her to live in Avignon.

Self-portrait, Nathalie Daguet

Nathalie Daguet was born in Paris from two French parents but her life changed forever at the age of six when her father was posted to Singapore. Raised in a British environment, she learned English at an age when languages pour into you without effort; English became her second mother tongue and never left her. She probably caught the travel bug at the same time.

After receiving a degree in law she went to Costa Rica for a year. She then spent two years sailing half-way round the world on a 30-foot sailboat she built with her French husband. Starting from Brittany they sailed west, visiting the Canary Islands, the Caribbean and Virgin Islands, the east coast of the U.S. and the Bahamas before going through the Panama Canal and crossing the South Pacific to French Polynesia.
 
Tahiti then become home for six years, during which time Nathalie worked for Qantas, the Australian airline, and gave birth to twins. She and her husband then decided on a new adventure: buying a working barge in Belgium and sailing it down the French canals to Avignon where they settled for several years, converting the barge into a luxurious four-bedroom floating home.

The family then moved to Australia so that the kids, now three of them, would learn English the way Nathalie had, by soaking it up. In Sydney she founded her own travel agency, Voyage Australie, which specializes in French in-bound travel to Australia. All three children are now fully bilingual and true citizens of the world.

Six years later, Nathalie is back in Provence and loving it. Rediscovering her home country she has found the same spirit of adventure that she’s always found in—and brought to—her travels. France Revisited’s own well-traveled audience can now enjoy that spirit in the photos and texts that comprise the series “Seasonal Provence.”

If France Revisited’s periodic dose of “Seasonal Provence” leaves you craving for more, then visit Nathalie’s bilingual daily blog, Avignon in Photos.

Nathalie Daguet’s series “Seasonal Provence” begins on France Revisited on March 1, 2010.