Wednesday morning we woke up (in Nîmes) and had a quick breakfast before heading over to the Arena, just across the street. It was beautiful in the morning light. We were able to walk around the entire thing, though unfortunately the scaffolding and stage from their summer concert series makes it look a bit modern. It is the best preserved Roman arena today, out of the roughly 400 still standing.
After our tour we packed up and headed south towards the small town of Aigues-Mortes. It also has medieval walls and gates that completely surround the old city. A more modern city and neighborhoods have grown up around it, but people live within the walls as well. We walked through the little town and into the shops, stopping for some delicious ice cream. I had lavender and rose (underneath) my dad had pistachio and prune/armagnac (underneath, and boozy). On our way back to the car we walked through a little weekday market and bought some dried fruit and nuts to snack on in the car. Then we made our way NE towards Arles.
Once we reached Arles we headed to the Tourism Office since they have a lot going on and we wanted to get tickets and maps for things. Arles is well known for its Roman ruins. We went first to check out the amphitheater since they would be closing soon to set up for a performance that night. Then we went to check out the Saint Trophime church and cloister. The carvings on the front of the church are considered some of the finest examples of Romanesque sculpture. It was built in the late 11th century. The cloister was where the priests who attended the resident bishop were required to live monks. A reform instituted by Pope Gregory forced this lifestyle, closed off from the city.
We poked around in the cryptoporticus, which is the underground Roman ruins that used to be above ground. They are mostly arches that would have been around a city square, shaded around the outside with shops underneath. The current ground level is now 6 meters higher than back then, which is why it is all underground now. These old passages date back to the 1st century BC.
After we emerged, we stopped at a cafe for lunch. It just so happened to be THE CAFE that Van Gogh painted his Cafe at Night. Pretty cool since he's my favorite artist. We had a quick salad and then walked further toward the old Roman baths, built in 4th century AD. It's hard to tell from the pictures but they used to have huge fires that would heat the air and run under the floor, then heating the baths. The mini pillars you see are what held up the floor, so that warm air could travel under this. As you moved away from the fires the baths cooled down. So you start with the coldest of baths (frigidarium) to rinse off and have a refreshing cold plunge before moving onto the tepidarium where it is slightly warmer (sometimes with water and sometimes just warm air) to prepare yourself for the final room. The caldarium was the hottest of rooms, often directly over the heat source. Romans believing in the health benefits of sweating out any dirt or illness.
Now on to the main event: The Course Camarguaise. This is a type of bull "fighting". It is not a blood-sport where you kill the bull. Instead the bull has little strings attached to the base of each horn and the razeteurs (bullfighters) attempt to to remove them. They win prizes for how many they can remove. The full event has 6 bulls with maybe 5-10 minutes for each and a halftime intermission, but the bull is the real star of the show. Everyone claps for them and they get almost a full minute once entering the arena for everyone to admire them. My dad and I only stayed for 4 bulls because at that point it had already been 1.5 hrs and we had to get going. But it was pretty cool to watch. The guys leap over the small fence to get away from the horns (which are capped for safety). Occasionally the bull goes over the fence too.
After that we drove to Avignon and checked into our hotel, then caught a taxi into town (we are about 10-15m outside of Avignon). There are all sorts of street musicians and acts going on in the walking/pedestrian section of town. The Pope's Palace was closed for some event but we are here for 3 nights so we can check it out anytime. We had some pretty good Moroccan food for dinner in the square then went back to the hotel to get some sleep.
After our tour we packed up and headed south towards the small town of Aigues-Mortes. It also has medieval walls and gates that completely surround the old city. A more modern city and neighborhoods have grown up around it, but people live within the walls as well. We walked through the little town and into the shops, stopping for some delicious ice cream. I had lavender and rose (underneath) my dad had pistachio and prune/armagnac (underneath, and boozy). On our way back to the car we walked through a little weekday market and bought some dried fruit and nuts to snack on in the car. Then we made our way NE towards Arles.
Once we reached Arles we headed to the Tourism Office since they have a lot going on and we wanted to get tickets and maps for things. Arles is well known for its Roman ruins. We went first to check out the amphitheater since they would be closing soon to set up for a performance that night. Then we went to check out the Saint Trophime church and cloister. The carvings on the front of the church are considered some of the finest examples of Romanesque sculpture. It was built in the late 11th century. The cloister was where the priests who attended the resident bishop were required to live monks. A reform instituted by Pope Gregory forced this lifestyle, closed off from the city.
We poked around in the cryptoporticus, which is the underground Roman ruins that used to be above ground. They are mostly arches that would have been around a city square, shaded around the outside with shops underneath. The current ground level is now 6 meters higher than back then, which is why it is all underground now. These old passages date back to the 1st century BC.
After we emerged, we stopped at a cafe for lunch. It just so happened to be THE CAFE that Van Gogh painted his Cafe at Night. Pretty cool since he's my favorite artist. We had a quick salad and then walked further toward the old Roman baths, built in 4th century AD. It's hard to tell from the pictures but they used to have huge fires that would heat the air and run under the floor, then heating the baths. The mini pillars you see are what held up the floor, so that warm air could travel under this. As you moved away from the fires the baths cooled down. So you start with the coldest of baths (frigidarium) to rinse off and have a refreshing cold plunge before moving onto the tepidarium where it is slightly warmer (sometimes with water and sometimes just warm air) to prepare yourself for the final room. The caldarium was the hottest of rooms, often directly over the heat source. Romans believing in the health benefits of sweating out any dirt or illness.
Now on to the main event: The Course Camarguaise. This is a type of bull "fighting". It is not a blood-sport where you kill the bull. Instead the bull has little strings attached to the base of each horn and the razeteurs (bullfighters) attempt to to remove them. They win prizes for how many they can remove. The full event has 6 bulls with maybe 5-10 minutes for each and a halftime intermission, but the bull is the real star of the show. Everyone claps for them and they get almost a full minute once entering the arena for everyone to admire them. My dad and I only stayed for 4 bulls because at that point it had already been 1.5 hrs and we had to get going. But it was pretty cool to watch. The guys leap over the small fence to get away from the horns (which are capped for safety). Occasionally the bull goes over the fence too.
After that we drove to Avignon and checked into our hotel, then caught a taxi into town (we are about 10-15m outside of Avignon). There are all sorts of street musicians and acts going on in the walking/pedestrian section of town. The Pope's Palace was closed for some event but we are here for 3 nights so we can check it out anytime. We had some pretty good Moroccan food for dinner in the square then went back to the hotel to get some sleep.
Great photos!
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