One of the ship tours looked absolutely fabulous so we decided to go with this one. It was called Ancient Towns of Provence.
First stop was to visit Arles, a Roman capital which has lots of Roman style buildings and monuments, so we immediately left for
a walking tour through the ancient town. We came across the remains of an amphitheatre with two columns standing and the remains of the
seating in its original form. Next we passed the Roman Theatre, very large and from the outside very interesting. There were some areas
of the walls that had been or were under restoration as some of the stone had been used over time to build other buildings.
Continuing through the narrow streets showed us some of the attempts to moderinity, as there were a few restaurants and cafes along the way.
The local people we met were very charming and friendly and even the young lady from the bakery found time to have a chat and a laugh. A place
of interest was the Van Gogh Museum but unfortunately it was closed. There was however a restaurant called Cafe Van Gogh so we took pleasure
in noting this famous artist.
St Trophime Church was a definite highlight with history recorded by many carved scenes in stone. The workmanship was
unbelievable and the whole facade of the church was history in itself. The doorway is famous for its carving that
is shaped like a triumpful arch. The town centre was highlighted by a tall obelisk and we now have found out there are only 30 original ancient obelisks remaining from
time long ago. There are 7 in Egypt and 13 in Rome. The rest have been built in later years. Just a little further on, we came
across more statues and houses that had traditional widow boxes and doorways. Arles is an agricultural area and is famous for growing rice. It is also well known for its annual
Arts Festival
A very different and interesting drive through rocky terrain brought us to the entrance of a medieval town, Les Baux de provence.
It sits high on a rocky hilltop and has a wonderful history of warriors and and warfare. One of the shops here has many types of armour and relics from ancient times on display
and for sale. We wound our way along the cobbled streets to check out the town and came to the top where sweeping views of vineyards could be seen. Along the walkways many small shops had crafty souvenirs
on sale and we spent lots of time just wondering around and buying unusual gifts to take home.
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