Arles Necropolis

The place to be buried in christian southern France was at Arles and although there is not a great deal left, I, like others, found it atmospheric at least.

Still Arles

Also wandered down to the river which is quite busy with barges. It was a glorious day, the wind had dropped and the sun had some warmth to it in sheltered spots. Followed a bit of the Vincent trail around town.

Arles

Visit to the exellent Antiquities Museum today, oddly difficult to get to, on the other side of a massive freeway from the town, but found my way there at last. Sme wonderful things including stuff from the Louvre on tour. Then back to town and the cloisters, there is a strike today in France and sme things were shut.

Arles

A lovely town with a great deal of charm. It seems to be winning the "Who can have the narrowest streets and still have cars award". They are rebuilding the amphitheatre in parts probably because they still use it for bullfights.

Palace of the Popes

As you can probably see there is not much in the palace the popes once inhabited. Time and history have blown them away and scoured it out.

Around Orange

I did wander around a little despite the wind, I found an amazing place for lunch and the museum.

Orange

Orange from which derives the House of Orange, rulers of the Netherlands, is a town not far from Avignon. These days its famous for its theatre. It was blowing an absolute gale there today, I had to sit down a couple of times so I would not be blown over.

Sur le Pont

Sunday morning and I had the bridge to myself for most of the visit. How that wretched jingle does repeat in your head, very hard to get rid of once established.

Avignon

Avignon is very attractive and has some lovely buildings although the Revolution in France tends to have been hard on religious architecture generally. The top 2 are the Palace of the Popes.

Vienne

Much to see in Vienne, Roman sttlement, temple of Augustus, theatre and a fun medieval section with a market on Saturday.

Vienne and Avignon

Can't manage any photos at the moment which is a shame but I really enjoyed Vienne and am happily ensconced in the city of the Babylonian Captivity. Very pretty and more Italian than I expected in style. Vegtables seem to have reappeared on the menu and the butter/cream tally is reduced. Very pleasant. The storm that hit the west of the country did not get this far and although there is sporadic rain there are considerable fine periods as well.

Food glorious etc

Last day in Lyon I was originally going to stay another day but couldn`t get a room. Apparently the big food festival and competition starts tomorrow and the place will be a madhouse. Its certainly a gastronomic centre. These are lolly and cake and lollycake shops.