I took yesterday off from posting, but today’s another day. 😉 By day five of our cruise, things were beginning to wind down. We were docked in Avignon, rather than in Arles, as we’d expected — the dock in Arles was undergoing renovations. No problem, though, as Arles was only about half an hour away by bus, so off we went! Arles is a very old town, as you may be able to tell from these photos.
I loved the narrow old streets and the beautiful mosaic on the building to the left.
The Romans who lived here long ago had an arena — not an unusual thing. This arena is still in use today, though, as a bull-fighting venue. The bulls here are not killed, however, as they are in Spain. When the season for bulls is over, the arena is also used for various artistic performances.
Walking along the narrow streets, the entrance to the arena is on the left, and a church spire is in the distance. Interestingly, the arena was designed so that approximately 35,000 spectators could exit in just seconds!
We also visited the Hotel de Ville (city hall), which had some interesting touches. One was this flat barrel-vaulted ceiling. The story goes that it was constructed with various wooden beams holding things up until the final stones were in place. Most of the beams were removed, but no one had the courage to remove the last one, for fear of being crushed as the ceiling collapsed. Finally, a stranger appeared and volunteered to remove that final beam. He did, and the ceiling did not collapse — and then it was revealed that the “stranger” was none other than the designer of the vaulted ceiling! He had faith in his design. 🙂
Also in this same building is a small flight of stairs, flanked by a pair of lions. At the top of the stairs is the Venus of Arles, who is reputed to be even more beautiful than the Venus de Milo. Actually, this Venus is a replica, as the original is now in the Louvre in Paris.
Our last stop in Arles was La Maison de Santé, which is where Van Gogh stayed for a time while dealing with his mental problems. He eventually left, however, because everyone in town made fun of him. Arles was home to Van Gogh for quite some time, and the town still honors him.
Remember that I said we were actually docked in Avignon; this is the view we had from our cabin. Lovely, isn’t it?
And what was Bisou, our adorable cocker spaniel, doing while we were away? She was having a high time with several other dogs at our amazing sitter’s house. Here she is, chilling with a golden retriever.
