May 30: around Avignon 2
From the Place du Palais I scuttled back into the narrow streets to the west and then headed south along the western edge of the old city.
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First, these wonderfully irregular steps down to Rue de la Balance.
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Later, unexpectedly, along Rue Limas, a Muson-River tourist train. (Trigger warning behind the link: completely adorable trains)
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Engaging hardscaping at the Place Crillon.
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Along Rue Rempart de l'Oulle, a solid street wall faces off with a solider city wall.
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Some cool hexbullseye inlays on the same street, just after Passage de l'Oratoire.
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A selection of (half-)arches for you in this wall tower, still on l'Oulle.
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In the elevational view, you can get a better idea of the interior space of the tower, a rather intriguing semi-secret spot.
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Quite a curious pattern indeed.
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I wonder how many centuries separate the construction of these walls on Rue Nicolas Lescuyer.
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A subtle eruption of new from old.
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An extra-secluded tower niche at the end of Rue d'Annanelle.
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A mysterious passage off Rue Joseph Vernet. Note that you can see all the way through the building at the end.
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I think this protrusion must be a natural loosely-packed sedimentary mixture, but it looks like it was tossed together by a blind-drunk mason. It also looks like a guffawing face.
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Across the sycamorish Rue de la République, a brief glimpse of the Temple St.-Martial and the Square Perdiguier at left.
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Then along Rue des Lices, by the corner of Rue Portail Magnanen, is this imposing multi-arcaded building wrapped around a large courtyard open to the street. The only reference I can find to it is photos entitled "Ancienne Aumônerie" (Old Chaplaincy), which raises more questions than it answers.
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Though the south wing lacks the arcades, its rhythm is consistent.
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At each end of the front edge of the courtyard are these little volumes. I see "Ecole Les E..." above the door but can't quite make out that last word.
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Dominating the courtyard are these two grand old sycamores. I think I had a close call and almost got locked inside the courtyard. The escape would have been spiky if that had happened.