The medieval Babylon - Avignon.

In the early 14th century, the French king and the pope fought for control and church property, eventually forcing the court to move to Avignon. In the next 70 years, there were seven popes in Avignon, most of whom were elected by the French under the intervention of the French king. Later historians called the pope at this time "Avignon Prisoner". The palace where the pope lived was built in 1252. Later popes added and decorated it a lot, costing a lot of manpower and material resources, and the income of the court was almost insufficient. The palace is located on a high ground on the banks of the Rhone River. It is the largest Gothic palace in Europe, covering an area of 15,000 square meters. It is entirely built of locally produced yellow stones. It is also a military bunker with a wall thickness of up to 3 meters and very few windows. There is still a five-kilometer-long city wall outside the city, with city gates, city towers, and city battlements. In addition to the palace, the Avignon Broken Bridge is also a famous scenic spot. It is said that in the 12th century, a shepherd named Benezet was called by the Lord to move a huge stone weighing more than half a ton from the mayor's courtyard to the river bank. The people who were deterred by the divine will generously donated money and spent ten years of hard work to build this bridge. Named it "Saint Benezet Bridge" with the name of the shepherd. Although only four of the 22 stone arches remain today, they still do not reduce their grace. Most of the museums in Avignon are free. The visitor center sells museum tickets for 24€ a day. It is recommended not to buy them. One is because most of them are free, and the other is that you can't see a few museums outside the palace and the broken bridge in one day. Palace ticket: 14.5€ Musee Louis Vouland: €6 (The museum is not big, two floors, about 10 small rooms, but the furniture is exquisite, and friends who like European-style decoration should take a look.)