Arles and Orange

I was looking forward to seeing Arles since Van Gogh painted many of his most well known works while living in Arles.  I completely understand why so many artists fall in love with the light in Arles.  There must be something about the angle of the sun because the light is truly fantastic.

So many beautiful shades of blue and lavender on shutters throughout the town.  And these red doors!

We toured the Roman amphiteatre in Arles, which is still used today for bullfights and concerts.

 



It was also inhabited by a few cats.  I'm missing our pets at this point.

The best part about Arles?  These lavender tarts.  It was the most delicious thing I ate on the entire trip.

Oh my.  I probably would have circled back for seconds if we didn't have a train to catch to Orange to see the Théâtre Antique d'Orange.  Dating back to the 1st century CE, it's still used today for theater, operas, and concerts.  See the statue in the alcove?  It's head was interchangable, making it easy to switch the noggin when a new ruler came to power.  Weren't those ancient Romans clever?

So, what did you see in France?

A bunch of Roman stuff.

Actually France has some of the best preserved Roman ruins.  We actually crossed one site off our list because we felt like we'd seen enough Roman arenas.


Next stop...more Roman architecture at Pont du Gard and Nîmes.