Sur le Pont - April 2022

Life is made up of big celebrations: weddings, milestone birthdays, and graduations. And small moments: eating black forest cake in the Black Forest, getting drenched under a waterfall in the Grand Canyon, and snorkeling off the Florida Keys.

And dancing on Le Pont d’Avignon.

I, along with all French children, grew up singing a song and imagining dancing on a bridge in Avignon. Written in the 16th century, to be sung during mass, Pierre Certon composed a song about people dancing on the bridge. What people dancing on a bridge has to do with God is beyond me.

Sur le Pont d'Avignon On the bridge of Avignon

L'on y danse, l'on y danse Everyone is dancing

Sur le Pont d'Avignon On the bridge of Avignon

L'on y danse tous en rond. Everyone is dancing in a circle

Les beaux messieurs font comme ça The handsome men go like this

Et puis encore comme ça. And they go like that

Sur le Pont d'Avignon On the bridge of Avignon

L'on y danse, l'on y danse Everyone is dancing

Sur le Pont d'Avignon On the bridge of Avignon

L'on y danse tous en rond. Everyone is dancing in a circle

Les belles dames font comme ça And the beautiful girls go like this

Et puis encore comme ça. And they go like that.

Avignon is a town on the Rhone River in the South of France. Due to political reasons it became the residence of the popes in the 14th century, and perhaps because someone built a bridge there 100 years earlier. It was the only bridge that crossed the river between Lyon and the Mediterranean Sea. It’s not a fancy bridge by any means. Not even a full bridge. It is old and part of it was swept away years ago.

Nevermind, it was Le Pont d’Avignon. I had been looking forward to this day for years. It was sunny. It was windy. It was perfect. A quick glance over to Michael let him know I was ready for my dance. He’s not much of a dancer and he didn’t grow up imagining being twirled around on the bridge. But he was game. We walked to the end of the bridge and I started singing the song. We danced. I even twirled. It was marvelous. Dancing on the pont…✅.