Tag Archives: Provence River

A Highlight of a Provence River Cruise – The Palais des Papes in Avignon

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 Provence River Cruise

Provence river cruiseThere is a great chance that booking a Provence River Cruise guarantees the guest a visit to Palais des Papes also known as the Papal Palace. This historical palace is located in Avignon. Southern France is quite known for its medieval buildings and Palais des Papes fits the description as one of the more important medieval gothic buildings in Europe.

Provence River Cruise and Palais des Papes

Built in two different phases with different segments, the phases of Palais des Papes is given two different names. The old palace is named Palais Vieux and the new palace is named Palais Nuef. Once both stages were completed the palace stretched 2.6 acres. At that time the expensive building held papacy’s riches.

Pierre Poison did the construction of the old palace as instructed by Pope Benedict. The New Palace was constructed by Architect Jean de Louvres who was hired by Pope Clement VI. Pope Innocent VI and Pope Urban V added on two more towers to complete the main courtyard.

The buildings featured incredible decor – the frescos, paintings, tapestries, sculptures, and wooden ceilings were amazing and rich. Once the popes left Avignon in 1377 they returned to Rome. Clement VII and Benedict XIII secured Palais des Papes as their own. Once the latter was imprisoned in the Palais the antipapal had their hands on the building. In 1433 Authority of the Palais des Papes was returned to the legates.

When the French Revolution started in 1789 the buildings were in terrible condition and were also seized by revolutionary forces. Two years later it was known as the scene of a massacre. The building had memories of bodies of counter-revolutionaries that were thrown into the Tour des Latrines in the Palais Vieux.
Because the military has much to do with the latest damage of Napoleonic French state the building has been under constant restoration. In 1906 the building was vacated and became nationally known as a museum. Visit this site that is full of historical conflicts as it is now open to the public. Inside the Palace Museum are lots of historical artifacts and rotating special exhibits.

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Vacations are usually not complete without a little souvenir to pack away and memories of some great food to brag to friends and family about. Around the Palace is a pedestrian square with many outdoor cafes and a few shops – a great place to take a break before going back to your ship.

For more information contact: Europeanbarging, 888-869-7907, jan@europeanbarging.com

Caves of Carrieres Awaits You

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Cave 1 ebVisit the Caves of Carrieres de Lumieres on a AMA Waterways River Cruise

Carrieres de Lumieres is located in the ancient village of Les Baux, which sits atop a rocky plateau overlooking the Alpilles in Provence, France. Though the village is no longer active, it still remains an attraction for tourists who want to see the ruins of the castle and the beautiful vistas. Carrieres de Lumieres is the most unusual site to experience here.

It’s actually a quarry, where the locals used to extract limestone for the construction of a nearby chateau and Les Baux. Presently, huge images of works of art are projected onto the walls, ceiling and floors, accompanied by music.

AMA Waterways Provence River Cruise offers an exciting excursion to the Carrieres de Lumieres, located in the caves of the old quarry. The term Carrieres de Lumieres refers to the ever-present role of light here.

Make Cave Exploring Real

An innovative and ambitious project is being organized in order to give this man-made site a new focus. There are four main aspects of the project:

  • A new program of cultural events is proposed on the theme of the “History of Art” in the Carrières rooms and galleries with audio visual shows, live shows, concerts, lectures, and more. The aim of the program is to make ‘Carrières de Lumières’ a cultural hub for multiple events. It will be offering one big new show every year, profiling the greatest names in the history of art.
  • A new and quite captivating event has the Carrières quarries gradually lighting up, highlighting the unique nature of the site between each show. No wonder, the spectators all praise the mineral beauty of the site.
  • New high-performance technological equipment is being procured for this outstanding audio visual show. Each area of the Carrières invites visitors on an extraordinary audio visual journey made possible by cutting-edge technological equipment and methods developed by Culturespaces and its multimedia partners, which includes 70 video projectors, 3D audio adapted to the specific characteristics of the site, etc.
  • More surfaces are to be used in the show to give it a bigger platform and extend this artistic journey.

Visitors are totally spellbound and get immersed in the images projected onto all the surfaces of the rock. Now, twice the number of video projectors is being used in order to cover twice the wall area. The completely covered ground itself becomes a huge carpet of images.

An upcoming new show will continue until January 5, 2014, titled Monet, Renoir … Chagall – Journeys Around the Mediterranean.  Europeanbarging.com   888-869-7907