Avignon and Botero sculptures

This post is a combination travel and art one.  Avignon in Provence is a fantastic place to visit.  Particularly just on either side of the high season.  And one of the many stunning things there when I visited were some large Botero sculptures.

Botero is not French.  He is Columbian.  He was born in the early 30's.  As you can see from the sculptures he liked depicting people as larger than life.  No stick insects for him.

His work is found all over the place.  But it seemed to be particularly quirky popping up in the ancient medieval town of Avignon just a stone's throw from the Palais des Papes – or Papal Palace.  For a long time Avignon was where Popes lived for about 70 years rivalling the Pope's based at the Vatican in Italy.

The other famous thing about Avignon is its bridge.  We all sang "Sur le pont d'Avignon" – but the bridge is actually the St Benezet bridge and it only now goes part way across the river.