Atrium Arles

... came down near us but we were lucky and just got debris on us. But enough whining about the weather.
Avignon is extremely beautiful and we have a lovely view at night of all the castle etc all lit up as we are camped on a sort of island in the Rhone. We arrived yesterday and explored the town and went to the Popes palace which is the best preserved castle of its age in France. We then ...

... since Susan and Brett last visited, but at €18.00 each, plus wine and wonderful coffee, it is extraordinary value.

Alison sat outside with one of the waiters while I paid the bill, and explained that we were from Nouvelle Zelande. The waiter replied that there had been two people from New Zealand having lunch the day before and several the previous week. So the word must have got around. Next time we might have to reserve.

... the hotel) we were directed to were closed. gotta love france on a sunday.

we stopped by at pont du guard on the way here (really old roman aqueduct) which still blows my mine every time i see it. defo a must see in this area.

so i have been trying to muster up the courage to call the french family i lived with when i was here in school, but have not yet figured out how to say hi, remember me, its been 15 ...

... and visited one of three remaining Roman theaters in the world. It is 2,000 years old and has been to Hell and back, but it's still standing and people perform operas there. A statue of the Emperor looks out at the audience from the top to remind everyone who is in charge. We were told that his head is removable so that they didn't have to create a whole new statue every time power changed hands; just pop off the head and replace it. When ...

Believe me you don't want the story but here are a few photos and videos of what was a wonderful adventure for the most part.

The bull running was a random and free event - just next to lovely beach. Camargue horses are breathtakingly beautiful in the wild.

Unfortunately no photos of characterful and cultural city of Arles because only took the camera out one day - the day we went to The Camargue obviously.

Like Nimes, Arles is a small town with a number of Roman ruins. Arles was also inspiration for Van Gough but nothing neither his art nor much of inspiration can be found.

Tourist info tells me that the hostel does not open until 5 PM, 6 hours later. Fortunately, 1 hotel does provide bag check service. Arles is along a wide river and has docking facilities suggesting that this was once a major port. Now, steps approach the water and fade.
Arles, Provence, France will.traveller

... enjoyed squid that was so tender it melted in your mouth. Mains arrived I opted for one of my fav's Lamb cooked perfectly and encrusted in herbs Chuong went for steak. All accompanied with a red from Provence. However in our rush to get out the door to explore a little of Arles and eat we didn't even think about dress code so were rather under dressed in this cool little place especially Chuong in his boardshorts! Strange sighting of the evening with the ...

... listened to another round of ipod songs, took another nap, and caught the bus at 5:15pm like pros. We set the 7:30pm dinner date at our last Cuisine de Comptoir visit. I had my favorites again, just like last week (because I thought last week would be the last trip too). The salad, the Marius, and the chocolate cake. We split a bottle of wine and it was the perfect dinner. It was funny ...

... told Meredith and Mackenzie that I would eat kabobs with them for lunch at 1:00. I still had half of the market to go and I wanted to get my train ticket from the train station because I was headed that way. It was already 12:30 when I got to the train station and there was no way we would be back by 1:00. And go figure, I got all the way to the station and didn't have my access code ...

... have to have one. We had some fun conversations in the phone store because it took quite a while. I have noticed that the French definitely move at a slower, more relaxed pace than Americans. It's actually really refreshing not to be pressed for time. We went to the IES center and had a safety meeting. Betrand said that American girls are "exotic" to the French and we should be careful. That just makes me laugh every time ...