I forgot to mention that in the midst of our Arles rain walk we took a brief tour of the cryptoporticus, a “semi-subterranean gallery whose vaulting supports portico structures aboveground” such as the forum which served as the Roman marketplace of the city. No one is quite sure went on down there during Roman rule,…
Rain break
Post by Ella Musée Réattu, housed in a 15th century building, was delightful. We might have skipped it but for the steady rain. This was the first break in our perfect weather streak so not complaining. In fact, torrential downpours and thunderstorms had been forecast but the waterworks never got more intense than a steady…
Rainy day rambling in Arles
Arles, two-thousand years ago was an important Roman city. It still has the ruins of a coliseum that used to be able to seat ten thousand people. Up the cobbled street from where we’re staying, we paid it a mid-morning visit. Now bullfights take place in the arena. From what I’ve read they have a benign variation on…
Ghostly sense of humor
Post by Ella Did they slither up from below the ancient Roman walls of Arles?
A cozy French dinner
Post by Ella In our corner of Arles, the restaurants open for dinner at 7:30pm. Which is not unusual for a lot of countries. I booked a table at the intriguing Le QG. All the restaurants are small, it was Friday night and even though we’d seen few tourists, I was guessing this area was…
We are curious (yellow)
Arles is known among art lovers as the place in Provence where Van Gogh spent a prolific 15 months in the late 1880s finishing over 200 paintings. During this time his work became brighter as his attention became more focused on his surroundings. Just look at “The Yellow House,” “Bedroom in Arles,” or “The Night Café.” Arles is…
Moving on to Arles
Post by Ella Early risers we were. Got out of the apartment by 9am. Whew hu! It was an easy walk with our luggage to the tram stop. Well, except the tram station for this stop turned out to be underground…down several flights of stairs. Easy 25 minute ride to the airport. We found the…
A late lunch at Le Tapenade
Post by Ella After we’d visited the monastery this morning and walked the 2 miles down the hill (yeah, okay, we did take the bus UP the hill) into the old city we plopped down at Le Tapenade, a tiny cafe with maybe 6 tables outside and a few more inside. I did have a…
Up among the friars
The Cimiez Monastery in Nice tops a hill above the park by the Matisse museum that has paths named after American jazz legends. The original monastery was founded in the 13th century and has been rebuilt many times over the years. It was run by Franciscans most of whom were friars. So instead of being cloistered…
Flowers aren’t crazy
Post by Ella We visited a monastery this morning. Or more correctly, a Franciscan friary. Grubb is posting about that. But I could imagine a life of quiet service. And I learned the difference between monks and friars. There was a Welsh woman helping in the Monastery Museum. All the placards were in French. Her…