Shawn L. Bird

About six hundred years ago folks started singing a little folk song about the Pont St. Benezet which crosses the Rhône river at Avignon.  It was one of the first pieces I learned to play on the organ when I was a kid.  Do you know it?

♪ Sur le pont d’Avignon ♪
♪ L’on y danse, l’on y danse ♪
♪ Sur le pont d’Avignon ♪
♪ L’on y danse tout en rond ♪

From what I’ve been learning, people didn’t actually dance on the bridge (Sur le pont) but rather, on an islet beneath it (sous le pont).  Since to most people ‘dancing under a bridge conjured rather moist visions, the words changed to the version we know today.

And here I am on the famous bridge!  I was in Avignon this day, staying at an apartment across the street from the former Ste. Claire convent chapel, researching for a future series.