Arles

(Saturday) Just got home from a lovely day at the beach with some friends.  Got a little crispy, but I guess I can't complain... I spent all day next to the Mediterranean.  Hehe

Yesterday (Friday) was a fun day trip to Arles.  The weather again was amazing!  Hot, sunny... the perfect day for my new, one shoulder, white sundress. 

Arles is such an adorable provincial city.  We started at the Roman Ampitheater.  It was built around 90 AD and could fit around 20,000 spectators.  Like the amphitheater in Nîmes, this amphitheater was recycled: in the Middle Ages it was used as a fortress and later it was built into a walled city with 212 houses and 2 churches. 

Then we continued along to the classical theater and took some really fun pictures (where better to wear a dress that kind of looks like a toga than next to some Roman ruins?).

After the classical theater, we went to the Cloisters at St. Tromphime d'Arles.  The door of the church was really cool looking.  Can't remember the story but there were Apostles and a Chain Gang among other figures.  Inside was very peaceful.  And it was much cooler -- it was an inside court yard so it had the cool off the stones and the cool of a light breeze that snuck in and just a touch of warm from the sun.

Next we went for lunch at a cafe right catty corner to the one that Vincent Van Gogh painted!  Vincent lived in Arles and so we got to see a lot of the places that he actually painted.  But back to lunch for a moment: we had basically these large, round slices of bread (think pizza crust) covered in cheese, sauce and other veggies.  Kind of like pizza, but with toast instead of crust.  After we went to a Rick Steves recommended gelato place where they had some really unique flavors like fig and olive oil with honey.  I was hot so just went for peach and apricot (yum) but my friend tried the olive oil and it was good.

After our re-charge, we scoped out some more Vincent Van Gogh (they pronounce it Van Gog... hehe) sights: the hospital court yard (the hospital was called "Hotel Dieu" or God's Hotel), the park, and the Rhone.

Then, we went to the Constantin baths (some really cool stone work).  They were built in the 4th C with three rooms: the Caldarium (warm room), the Tepidarium (the lukewarm room), and the Frigidarium (the cold room). 

Next we went to the Musée Réattu, a modern art museum that had some Picasso sketches!  Very cool works (sketches maybe?) done in creypas (I think?) on what looked like brown paper bags (see mom, you're not the only artist who goes to the A&P for art supplies).

Finally, we ended the day with a glass of wine at the yellow café painted by Van Gogh.

 

The best part about the day was that the monuments had a special deal (maybe only for students though) where you could get into 4 monuments and a museum on the same ticket for 7 euros... not to shabby!  But I really loved Arles!  So cute and friendly.

For more pictures, click on the man with the funny mustache:

Stay tuned for... Finals?  Really?