Avignon is a city located in southeastern France with an estimated mid-2004 population of 89,300 in the city itself and a population of 290,466 in the metropolitan area at the 1999 census. The city is well known for its Palais des Papes, where several popes and antipopes lived from the early 14th to early 15th centuries.

Avignon, great city of the popes, and for centuries one of the major artistic centres of France, can be dauntingly crowded in summer and stiflingly hot. But it's worth braving for its spectacular monuments and museums, countless impressively decorated buildings, ancient churches, chapels and convents, and more places to eat and drink than you could cover in a month. There is a festival organized in July and the beginning of August, namely Festival d'Avignon.

Once in Avignon, you won't want to leave, and the town is too interesting to let you go. Avignon is ancient, full of history, life, youth, art, music and activity. Just to "see" the town itself, you could wander the narrow streets inside the fortified walls for days without tiring of them. Avignon is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Avignon is a great shopping area, with pedestrian streets without automobiles and loads of shops of all kinds. Southeast of the Place de l'Horloge: rue des Marchands, rue Rouge and ajoining streets are full of clothing and other shops.

Avignon is big enough to get lost in, at least if you're trying to meet someone. The places to visit are mainly Place de l'Horloge, Place du Palais, La Civette - Café-Restaurant, Place d'Horloge, La Regence - Café-Restaurant, and Pont d'Avignon.