Day 14, jeudi, le 9 aout

Woke up very early today. Paris and most of France is covered in cloud, rain and cool temperatures. Is there anywhere in France that has sunny skies and warmer temperatures? Did I hear you say "what about Provence?" and yes you are right. Provence has had rain for the last few days but will be sunny today, and lucky for us we're off to Arles.

Took the high speed TGV train from Gare de Lyon. Very comfortable and very fast, well very fast until Lyon. To get to Arles, directly, after Lyon the train makes numerous stops at rather small towns and doesn't reach it's full speed as it isn't running on TGV track.

Arrive in Arles and discover, immediately, what a small town it is. What seems such a great distance on a map is only a few minutes walk.

Mary wanted to go to Arles to see all the Roman ruins. Of course it would have made more sense to go to Italy to see Roman ruins but I was told that French is not spoken there.

First Roman ruin we visted was the amphitheatre. Mary was disappointed. In order to have shows here they've put up railings and installed seats and therefore it doesn't look historically accurate. Having said that, if you get away from the center of the arena and walk between the outer walls and the seats you get a feel for the true arena the way it would have been in Roman times. Mary was quite moved.

After the amphitheatre and on the way to the outdoor theatre we came across a restaurant that was cooking paella on a large outdoor barbecue platter. Mary was instantly hooked. We were squished into our seats as the restaurant was immediately full. The meal was very good and at dessert time we started talking to the couple (same age as us) next to us. Mary in English, me in French, and the French couple in 75% French and 25% English. The conversation went on for a very long time and Mary was impressed by my ability to keep a conversation going in French and the couple saying I spoke very well. Of course Mary doesn't know how poorly I actually did. We did learn that the constant wind in Provence is called the "Mistral" and that it blows down the Rhone valley on a constant basis.

After our extended lunch went to the Roman theatre. This was more to Mary's liking as it was kept in it's original state.

Then a walk through the town stopping at some of the shops. Mary bought a couple of bags. One in front of the City Hall she spent what seemed like a half an hour to decide which colour to buy (the bag was selling for 3 Euros!!!)

Last Roman ruin was the Roman baths. They no longer were usable (no water) but were very interesting nonetheless.

On the way back to the train station had a look at the olive trees.

Train to Avignon Centre.

Ridiculously quick walk around Avignon as we have only two hours before we catch the train to Paris. Enough time to see the Palais des Papes (outside) and the Pont de Bezenet.

Then back to take a bus to go to the Avignon TGV station. The train ride is high speed all the way and direct to Paris - only two hours and forty-five minutes!!! Takes me longer to get to work some days!!!