Blogs from Arles, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France, Europe - page 3

Apologies for publishing my last 2 blog entries out of order....still catching up! Last night our barge was moored on the River Rhone at Arles with a view up the river and of the walls of the town. We took a 10km trip round the backblocks of Arles to the Pont de Langlois immortalized in a Van Gogh painting. We had 3 hours to explore the city of Arles, another one dating back to Roman times – beautiful amphitheatre, Eglise St Trophime, Espace de van Gogh, ruins of Roman baths etc. We rode back to the barge, now moored outside the town of St Gilles, through fields of salt-tolerant rice and native flora & fauna including some amazing white snails sitting on vegetation in the canals along the side of the road. After we arrived at ... read more

Marseille, Arles, Avignon in Southern France 9 and 10 Aug 2013 After driving towards Marseille (pronounced Marsay) just before lunch, we hit the bumper to bumper traffic of the French Riviera in summer holidays again. We crawled along but finally got to the motorway and the traffic started to flow again. We knew Marseille was a big city and didn’t have a detailed map of it. When we arrived we drove around and around to try to find a suitable park. There were plenty of under-cover parks but we are just over 3 m high so they are not suitable. We drove through the waterfront area where it was absolutely packed with people. There were wall-to-walk restaurants, multiple tour groups being lead by tour guides holding up an umbrella or tassel on a stick so that ... read more

Great few days.. Could get used to this!! Left early Sunday morning and just before martigny received text from a friend Odile saying ok..we're supposed to pick her up at 8.. Had forgotten but just our luck arrived exactly at 8 At the station as agreed ages ago..quite unbelievable..a good Swiss start to the hol! Morning and lunch in chamonix and kids did summer luge in the afternoon..good thrills to start the hol! Odile caught the train back and we carried on to Grenoble, music blaring..pink Floyd and the script after the voice sat eve..and lots of Benedictes music..thanks so much! So great to leave with just overnight stops but no plans in between..certainly felt as free as birds! Interestingly Stefan installed the GPS before we'd left..he thought it was best to check it worked..but didn't ... read more

Currently I am sitting in the departure lounge at Marseille airport waiting for my flight. There is no WiFi access here, so I will have to send this later, but I can still tell you about my day today. It was cold and very windy all day. I bundled up and braved the elements, but didn't spend as much time out of doors as I had planned. That was partly because of the weather and partly because there is not much open around here on Sundays in late October. I checked out of the hotel in Arles and drove north along the Rhone river to Avignon. When I got out of the car, my cap blew off and I had chase it down the parking lot. One of the things I wanted to experience in Avignon ... read more

It drizzled pretty much all day today, but that did not keep me from doing what I planned to do. After breakfast I drove about an hour outside of Arles to see the Roman aqueduct at Pont du Gard. I took several photographs, but without people it is hard to appreciate how big it is. On summer weekends Pont du Gard can be quite crowded, apparently, but on a rainy October morning, there were not many visitors. Still, I was pleased to see it, not least because this is another place that my father visited in 1945. (See comparison photographs) There is also a very good museum (with signs in four languages!) And I spent a good couple of hours there learning more about this particular aqueduct and Roman aqueducts in general. The engineering prowess that ... read more