This morning, we all enjoyed a hotel buffet breakfast. Before Tavis and Addison went to pick up our rental car. They came back with a diesel Peugeot 2008 with a manual transmission. It was a Road Trip edition with 6 gears and Tavis seemed to enjoy driving it. When they got back, we set on our way to explore some of the tourist attractions and small villages near by.
Our first stop was Arles. We arrived just before 11:00 and found parking just outside the city walls. After paying for parking, we entered the gates and quickly found the coliseum. It was huge and reminded me of the one in Rome. Apparently the one in Arles is the 20th largest Greek coliseum. We didn’t go in but we got some photos from the outside. We then walked through the narrow streets down tiny alleys that apparently are big enough for cars. We stopped infront of a cafe that Van Gogh painted. Then we went to an art museum that had some of his work and other abstract female artists. It was interesting to discuss what we each saw in the paintings. Some just looked like splotches but others were quite intriguing. We then made our way to an open space that had something to do with VanGogh. It was very pretty. I enjoyed our walk through the town, but it was getting warm and we only paid for 2 hours of parking so we continued on our adventure.
On our way out of town, we drove to a famous bridge that Van Gogh painted. It was interesting to see a bridge that was painted back in 1888.
Our next stop was Nimes. Parking in Nimes is free on Sundays. It was also weird because there were single lane streets between buildings with parking on the shoulder. Cars drive quite quickly between those buildings on the narrow streets. The temperature seemed as hot as it was in Greece. We stuck to shaded areas and made our way to the park and water canals. There were large trees around the canals which provided shade. We walked through a huge gravel park to a hill. The stairs took us up to to paths that led to an old tower. By this time it was 38 degrees out and none of us felt like waiting in line to climb stairs to a sunny rooftop, so we snapped a few photos and made our way back to the car. I think this would have been much more enjoyable in cooler weather. It would be stunning at a sunset.
Next we decided to find the Roman aqueduct, Pont Du Gard. It was built in the 1st century AD to carry water to Nimes. It was very impressive. We took photos of the structure and spent 5 minutes trying to decider the year in Roman numerals on the plaque. We were quite amused when we discovered the side of the Aqueduct we had photographed was built in the 1700s and the actual structure was on the other side. Thanks Google for that information! We then walked under and took photos of the actual structure that had obviously been repaired and restored over the years. We then walked up along the bridge and enjoyed the view down along the river. IMPORTANT FACT: This is a great day trip destination! It is a local swimming area where lots of people were cliff jumping, swimming, kayaking, and having fun. I definitely recommend coming here with bathing suits and pack a lunch. I was the only one in a bathing suit and sandals so we just enjoyed it from a distance. If I am back in the area, I would love to come back! It costs $9 for parking per car.
We decided to start making our way home. Addison just had 1 last stop for us… The sport where Van Gogh painted Starry Night. We drove the the asylum where he supposedly lived when he painted this famous piece. We parked outside the gate and wandered around the shaded street where many of his art pieces were displayed with stories about each one. It was getting late though so we decided not to go into the gated area. Instead, we started back home to Marseille.
We arrived back to the hotel just after 19:00. Ayva and Ari went swimming while the rest of us relaxed for a couple hours. At 21:00 we all went out to dinner at a restaurant near by called L’Escale Restaurant. We had home-made burgers and they were huge and delicious.
Now we are going to bed early because tomorrow morning we are catching a train to Disneyland.