I decided to do a little search on famous people who had anything to do with Avignon and came across John Stuart Mill. His name will be familiar to anyone involved in the social sciences, and I remember him well when studying for my degree. He has been called the greatest English-speaking philosopher of the nineteenth century and his relationship to Avignon is only that he died here.
We then went wandering through the streets of Avignon when I saw once again the French motto: Liberte – Egalite – Fraternite, and did a little pondering. It seemed interesting to me that these three wonderful words did not apply to women. They have been around since the 1848 French Revolution but it was not for another 100 years that women were given the right to vote. The connection – it was John Stuart Mill who was the strongest supporter of voting rights for women.
We sat, we walked, we ate, we talked, we admired the mighty Rhone and its little half bridge, and generally did very little…..
