Orange you glad you came?

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Today I went to Orange to see the best preserved Roman theater outside of the Middle East. And let me tell you, it was impressive... and covered in scaffolding. But still, it's cool. It can hold 10,000 specatators and has pretty incredible acoustics for being over 2000 years old.

I took the train there, after have to sprint to the train station in Marseille from the bus stop. Ug. It was a close shave, let me tell you. So I collapsed, panting into a seat and enjoyed the lovely scenery sweep past me. I got to see Arles again and Avignon from the window. Then I hopped off the train at Orange and immediately tried to find the bus station so I could go to Vaison la Romaine and kill two theaters with one stop. However, Orange is kinda funny. Funny in an annoying and maddening way. First, I asked three people where the bus station was, got directions and then ended up finding it on my own anyway. But there's no real information on exactly when the buses come.

And then I found out that there were two bus stations, and the second one, up by the Arc de triomphe had even less information, as in nil. So I putzed around the Arc for a bit and contemplated hitch-hiking to Vaison. I knew where I should stand, but I wasn't sure I would be able to get a ride back in time for my train, so I said screw it.

Oh I also used a new trick to get a hotel bathroom. See the Frejus blog for Trick #1: Refined, prospective patron. Trick #2 is "Distressed person with something in their eye". No joke. I held a hand over my eye, spoke in broken French and basically acted like I had a splinter the size of a log in my cornea. Genius. It also shows the kind of lengths you must go to to get a decent bathroom in France, or Europe in general.

So I had a lovely lunch at the Festival Cafe in downtown Orange. I had a huge mixed salad, duck with carrots, some other greens and fries and a carafe of water, all for 11 euros. Oh I forgot- creme brulee for dessert too. Ah, the good life. I recommend it if you go there. The waiter was nice too, spoke English to me a bit, though I mostly spoke French to him. I had my pride.

Finally went to the theater. It was cool. I got an audioguide and spent an hour climbing all over the place taking pictures. I also went to the municipal museum next door and they had lots of engraving of the theater before it was restored in the 19th century. There used to be a whole village built inside the thing. It took twenty years to evict everybody so they could start restoration. So most of the seating is new, but the stage wall in all original. I would love to come here for a performance.

I had a little time after the museum, so I hiked up to the top of the hill that the theater is built into and took some pictures of the surrounding land. Then I had to book it back to the station for my train. We got in late to Marseille so I missed the train to Aix, meaning I had to fork over another 4,40 euros for the bus back to town. I got home exhausted. Such is life!

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Photos

Arc de Triomphe
Orange's other big attraction