The tour of Viviers starts IMMEDIATELY with the Allee du Rhone. Plane trees line both side of the street offering a lush canopy of green for your walk, beautiful! The trees are unfortunately diseased with chancre colore, an incurable fungus that eats the trees from the inside out. The other thing lining the streets are bollards, every where you look! In different shapes and colors more and more bollards. Completely missing the point, they haven’t controlled parking at all and are actually mostly a tripping hazard. As a metaphor, both the diseased trees and ineffective bollards feel appropriate to describe Viviers. Those two initial tidbits on our tour should have given us a lot of foreshadowing of the town we were about to enter: charming but also… a little bizarre. One day in Viviers looks like this:
The Town
Center of town consists of a bakery, La Petrisane (which was delicious), a cafe, and two shops. The market offers fresh produce and meat but the market is also only a couple of booths. Very small. So entering center of town doesn’t feel like much to write home about. We quickly move on and end up in Butcher Alley. Here we can see the lifestyles of 5th century France. The homes are all arranged on top of what was once the animal shelters on the street level. Several buildings are patched together to make up for bulging and breaking over time. Others are supporting each other by means of structural archways built between the two allowing them to lean into the neighboring building. Effective, I guess, but also a bit hilarious to see the way the city is patched together.
On our tour we bumped into very few locals, the quiet town seeming to keep to itself as we passed through. One local we bumped into was filling the bottom of the neighboring building’s garage with rubble so that he could park his scooter inside. Bucket by bucket. He very proudly showed us inside. Another local was remodeling an abandoned home and offered us a tour, what a treat! The homes are narrow but deep with courtyards in the back hidden from street view. Again, another proud gentleman showing us his work. Such a beautifully unique way of life, a moment of history frozen in time.
The Cathedral
The heart of Viviers, the Cathedral, is on top of the large hill in the center of town. During the Roman era, the Cathedral was placed here for protection, a perfect viewpoint during time of potential war. Over centuries, The Viviers Cathedral has endured various highs and lows. First built in the 11th and 12th century, nearly destroyed during the French Wars of the 16th century, and repaired in the 18th century, the structure as it is today is now famous as the smallest operating cathedral in France.
View from Above
If the walk up to the Cathedral is not enough exercise for you, the hike to the Virgin Mary statue is a can’t miss! This hike to La Joannade offers incredible views of the city and is less than 2 miles long! The trail winds up the hillside for a gentle elevation gain, great reward for minimal effort.
There is a beautiful trail, Ile des Bornes, along the Rhône, perfect for an afternoon run or a bike ride. This trail also gives you a great vantage point of the city. Careful not to get caught in a French thunderstorm like I did!
