River Rhône from Pont d’Avignon
Unfinished bridges are probably not that uncommon. I have seen quite a few unfinished modern bridges which were not completed because of lack of funding. Back then, funding might not have been a problem when maintaining the Pont d’Avignon since it is a vital path which leads to the medieval city of Avignon. Unfortunately, the power of nature is too much that the river would routinely wash away part of the bridge. It happened so often that the townspeople gave up trying to repair the broken bridge. This remained up to this day when modern technology has finally tamed the fast flowing river.
Calm River River Rhône From Pont d’Avignon
Approaching the end of the Pont d’Avignon is uneventful. There is a fence which helps keep people from falling into the river but of course the more determined ones can still do it if they wanted to. It is a shame since there isn’t that much left to build to reach the other side. It has been decided that the bridge would remain unfinished since it became famous precisely because it was unfinished. The Pont d’Avignon also serves as a good spot to admire the now calm river. It is quite relaxing to just watch life drift by. It was hard to imagine how bad it was back then.
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