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| Roman Theater |
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| Roman Amphitheater |
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| Van Gogh's "Cafe Terrace At Night" |
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| Actual Cafe Van Gogh Painted |
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| Sanitarium Van Gogh Painted |
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| Correct Allee of Plane Trees |
Oct. 7, 2015- Touring Arles
Walks Through Time
Boy, do they know how to set up a market here! The stalls circumnavigated the walls of the old city on the outside. I bet it was a mile, even more. We dutifully began our jaunt around eating our breakfast of croissant and bread whose name I forgot. David bought olives :), and we gawked at the array of "departments" and variety within. It was the first time we'd seen mattresses being displayed in an outdoor market.
We found the Tourist Info Bureau and a singularly unhelpful woman with a very bad cold gave us a map and was going to send us off. I asked about the Pass Advantage, and she sold us one. Arles has the largest old town with the most to see of any place on this trip. It was bombed during WWII; it's dirty, it's shabby; it's wonderful.
We walked all day bouncing from one ruin to another. The Greeks were first, but the Roman presence prevails. We started at the Roman Theater, which is still in use. That's a good thing except for the metal bleachers built over the old stone seats. The Amphitheater, built in the first century AD, is also being used. It's a bull-fighting arena. They're humane and don't kill the bulls, but restaurants here offer bull stew and bull steak. Hmm.
Lunch was steak hache with frites. The lone server managed to keep her cool even with a massive crowd. When asked about how busy she was she said she loved her job.
We then descended into the Roman crypts (circa 46 BC). It was a damp, cavernous, dark, arched puzzle of corridors steps, puddles, and dead ends. As I took pictures, I was struck by the juxtaposition of my smart phone taking photos of an ancient labyrinth built by Julius Caesar. Eerie. Daylight welcomed us as we climbed into what was the 2nd century Roman Forum, now a plaza busy with tourists.
Our last site was the Baths of Constantine, dated at 4th century AD. Yes, that guy. We've seen baths before, but it's always fun to imagine the engineering that went into them.
As an aside, before we came here I knew I wanted to see the places where Vincent Van Gogh painted. I have an affinity for him since I'm named for his brother, Theodore. My mother was reading Lust For Life when she was pregnant with me, thus my legal name, Theodora. The Foundation of Van Gogh was closed today, but we came upon a suspiciously familiar cafe. When I went inside, they had a copy of Van Gogh's "Cafe Terrace at Night." The original bar was still in use and the exterior was identical to the painting. I was on a quest. We saw a postcard stand featuring his works, and the shopkeeper was helpful in mapping out places with scenes Van Gogh painted. We found the sanitarium where he was a patient, the public gardens where I took a picture of the wrong trees, and the Rhone where he did "Starry Night Over the Rhone." Sad to say, the "Yellow House" is no more as it was destroyed in the war.
We met a lovely couple from Toronto as we were looking for a restaurant tonight. They're Jewish and have a gay son. Go figure. They're here for a river cruise that leaves tomorrow. It made dinnertime very enjoyable. I took my phone out to show them pictures and had a missed call. It was an Akron number so I dialed. It was our exterminating company trying to set up our next treatment. I told them I'd call when we got back. I don't think she really got it that we were in France.
Tomorrow we go to Avignon... sur le pont.
Toby
Boy, do they know how to set up a market here! The stalls circumnavigated the walls of the old city on the outside. I bet it was a mile, even more. We dutifully began our jaunt around eating our breakfast of croissant and bread whose name I forgot. David bought olives :), and we gawked at the array of "departments" and variety within. It was the first time we'd seen mattresses being displayed in an outdoor market.
We found the Tourist Info Bureau and a singularly unhelpful woman with a very bad cold gave us a map and was going to send us off. I asked about the Pass Advantage, and she sold us one. Arles has the largest old town with the most to see of any place on this trip. It was bombed during WWII; it's dirty, it's shabby; it's wonderful.
We walked all day bouncing from one ruin to another. The Greeks were first, but the Roman presence prevails. We started at the Roman Theater, which is still in use. That's a good thing except for the metal bleachers built over the old stone seats. The Amphitheater, built in the first century AD, is also being used. It's a bull-fighting arena. They're humane and don't kill the bulls, but restaurants here offer bull stew and bull steak. Hmm.
Lunch was steak hache with frites. The lone server managed to keep her cool even with a massive crowd. When asked about how busy she was she said she loved her job.
We then descended into the Roman crypts (circa 46 BC). It was a damp, cavernous, dark, arched puzzle of corridors steps, puddles, and dead ends. As I took pictures, I was struck by the juxtaposition of my smart phone taking photos of an ancient labyrinth built by Julius Caesar. Eerie. Daylight welcomed us as we climbed into what was the 2nd century Roman Forum, now a plaza busy with tourists.
Our last site was the Baths of Constantine, dated at 4th century AD. Yes, that guy. We've seen baths before, but it's always fun to imagine the engineering that went into them.
As an aside, before we came here I knew I wanted to see the places where Vincent Van Gogh painted. I have an affinity for him since I'm named for his brother, Theodore. My mother was reading Lust For Life when she was pregnant with me, thus my legal name, Theodora. The Foundation of Van Gogh was closed today, but we came upon a suspiciously familiar cafe. When I went inside, they had a copy of Van Gogh's "Cafe Terrace at Night." The original bar was still in use and the exterior was identical to the painting. I was on a quest. We saw a postcard stand featuring his works, and the shopkeeper was helpful in mapping out places with scenes Van Gogh painted. We found the sanitarium where he was a patient, the public gardens where I took a picture of the wrong trees, and the Rhone where he did "Starry Night Over the Rhone." Sad to say, the "Yellow House" is no more as it was destroyed in the war.
We met a lovely couple from Toronto as we were looking for a restaurant tonight. They're Jewish and have a gay son. Go figure. They're here for a river cruise that leaves tomorrow. It made dinnertime very enjoyable. I took my phone out to show them pictures and had a missed call. It was an Akron number so I dialed. It was our exterminating company trying to set up our next treatment. I told them I'd call when we got back. I don't think she really got it that we were in France.
Tomorrow we go to Avignon... sur le pont.
Toby
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