Pagnol Fils, wool merchants, owned the largest warehouse in the port. The founding brothers, Jean and Thomas, had built their concern from humble beginnings. They had given Marius his first work the day he arrived from Carpentras, pushing trolleys of cloth. With their partner, Bruno, they had lived in an imposing house on the Rue Limas up near the Bénézet bridge. Now, they had to survive aboard their narrow barge moored at the far end of the quay.
Come the plague, they made a decision to flee the town to find safe haven in a place spared the disease. In this they failed and were refused entry by the citizens of Avignon when they had their change of heart. They were left with the barge as their only residence. Despite sending baskets of fruit and other gifts into the town to mollify their
