Arles

The Arena de Arles.  They have recently cleaned and repaired the stones, so it will stand another 2000 years, hopefully.

Arles is a very old city, originally settled by the Greeks, then expanded by the Romans, who also used it as a place to retire. Not a bad idea, really.  Everywhere you look there are bits of old and in some cases, huge chunks!  Take the arena.  A coloseum still in excellent condition and used regularly for bull fights.  Around the corner is the theatre, which has been extensively rebuilt, now with a marvelous sound system and comfortable seating. One the main square near the Maire is a portion of wall that is left from the Forum, now a parfum shop. 

The Romans were here.

Looking over the rooftops of old town Arles.

The church is here also, but in recent years, since we were here in 2005, it has had it's history painted over.   The church is nicely lighted, brighter paints, but the markings of the Knights Templar, with they symbols used by the Masons, are gone.  If we didn't have pictures from our visit, we might think we were remembering wrong.  I guess it didn't fit in with the current Catholic views.  Too bad, it was really an interesting thing to see and wonder about.  Also, the Knights Templar were the ones who originally built the church.

There were a lot of people waiting for the church to open after lunch.

This fountain in square was in use during Roman times, but has been rebuilt several times since.

The Treasury has more reliquaries than most.  There is quite a collection of bones, hair and skulls in beautiful gold boxes, along with your usual candlesticks and incense burners. 

I enjoy being in Arles.  I looked at a few shops, but mainly, I either found a place to sit or stand and just looked at the town.  When we were here in 2005 while New Orleans was still flooded, two men in the market place, when realizing we were from New Orleans, invited us to move to Arles.  "We would welcome you with open arms.  And we don't flood here, either."  Except for the flooding part, that seems to be the way alot of French feel.

The reliquary of Ste Triomph.  She and her brother who has the same name in the masculine form are the patrons of the church.

The inside is much lighter and brighter than our last visit.

If you haven't seen enough, then go to the museum romain.  We have been to hundreds of museums, from small county ones in Texas to the Louvre, and this one ranks up there with the big boys.  The displays are perfect, the signage good and the lighting, magnificent!  And, most important of all, there is space enough to see and appreciate the displays.  While looking at one of the artifacts recovered from the river, the man standing next to us started talking to another in English, instead of French.  Turns out he was the one who had found this particular item, as well as many others!  We think they were speaking English to keep the French people at arms length, and since we were the only English speakers we ran into all day, it worked.

This head was from a tomb, don't you just love the hair?

This was the bronze lady that was found in the river.  She is a work of art.

Arles Marche Emil Combes

Paella, one of our favorites.  They always put it together so beautifully.

Arles had a big marches on Wednesday and Sunday.  The Wednesday one is really hard to find parking, but if you come really early on Sunday, you can easily find a spot.  They close off one of the busiest streets around the base of the old town.  The vendors put their goods out on either side of the street, along the sidewalks.  The center of the street is used for walking or, in the event of an emergency, access for vehicles.

Provencal linens.  I purchased gifts from this booth in 2005 and again this year.

Everyone needs sunglasses to keep out the Provencal sunlight.  Tres chic!

Everything is for sale here.  You can buy all your foods and wine.  Don't forget about a new outfit or maybe you want to redecorate the house.  The vendors all speak a bit of English, or are at least willing to deal with my painfully slow French. 

Olives, peppers, onions and assorted mixes.  There is one called Apero Mix , just for aperative time.  In this part of France, some of these olives are very spicy.

Sausages.

Spices of every sort.  We purchased a small bag of spices of Provence to take home and hopefully, be able to duplicate.  Compared to the US, spices, even in the grocery store, are much less expensive.

We buy most of our produce, cheese, olives and a couple of gifts at the market.  We also people watch.  There is so much going on besides buying and selling.

Gites du Lac

Mas des Pins is the name of their home, which is also a successful greenhouse produce venture.

With no house sit scheduled, we decided to visit the Arles area again.  Not wanting to spend a lot of money, we opted for a gite. There really isn't anything like gites in the US.  They are basically furnished guesthouses built on peoples properties which they then rent out.  Most like to rent for a week, especially in the high season, but in the low season, they are more relaxed about the rules. 

While there are 4 gites in a row, ours was on the end with both a front patio and a side terrace.

This is where we ate most of our meals.

The kitchen was a galley, with the other side a higher bar to block the mess.

Lounge area, with the stairs to the two bedrooms.  This gites was equipped for 5 people, even though there were only two of us.  The cost was about 45 euros per day.

We found ours through Gites de France.  Emailed to see if there was a vacancy, and Viola!  We were there.
The owners, M & Mm Decla, were most welcoming, even though they spoke no English and, well you know about our French!  This place has the best furnishedkitchen we have had in a long time.  It was also impeccably clean, the furnishings comfortable and the local wonderfully relaxing.  If we had come in the summer, there is a beautiful pool, but we satisfied ourselves playing pingpong.  When we finished our 2 weeks there, Madam asked if I would give them "Beaucoup publicity?"  Yes, they will get a wonderful review from us!

One of the resident cats, a beautiful calico.

Ducks on the small manmade lake which the gites get their name.