After breakfast, a bus took us from Tarascon to Arles which is about 20 minutes away, also on the Rhone river. We traveled mostly through agricultural areas with fields of wheat, oats, soy beans and sunflowers. The photo I took of the sunflowers looks like it could have been the scene that van Gogh painted. The roads are lined with pink, red and white Oleander that is in full bloom.
Sunflowers on the way to Arles
We walked through the old city gates through narrow streets to the Roman coliseum. The coliseum is better preserved than many of the Roman buildings because after the fall of the Roman empire people built houses inside the walls and the central area. The coliseum is is currently used for bull fights, horse shows and music concerts.
Roman coliseum in Arles
The Roman
amphitheater is not far away but many of the building stones were taken
to build houses so there isn't much left although a modern stage has
been setup for music performances.
In the city hall there were women in traditional Provencal attire binding together branches of lavender which is now at its peak.
The city
hall is built on top of the cryptomeria which was constructed to support
the Roman Forum. We bought tickets to go down into the cryptomeria which
was interesting to see, although it is rather dark and damp. It is being
used to store pieces of Roman marble columns, statues and building blocks.
We also visited the hospital / sanitarium where Vincent van Gogh went after he cut his ear. The garden that was there has been restored to the way that it appeared while he was there.
After lunch, we decided to visit the Tarascon castle, a short walk from the ship. The path was lined with beautiful oleander shrubs.
The castle was built in the 13th century to control the Rhone river and the province to the east. We were able to many of the chambers and climb up all the way to the parapet surrounding the roof. The castle was used as a prison for many centuries, from the Catholic - Protestant wars of the 16th century to the French Revolution and was only closed in 1923. In some of the rooms you can see graffiti carved by the prisoners - one clearly showed an English prisoner who was captured in 1775 and was released in 1777. There is a spectacular view in all directions, including a competing a competing castle just on the other side of the river. Next to the castle one can see the remains of the limestone quarry that was used to supply materials for the castles, churches and mansions for the wealthy.
The name "Tarascon" comes from a mythical creature in the early centuries AD that would eat young people. One of the awful depictions that one sees has a baby in the mouth of the creature. The legend is that Martha (of Mary, Martha and Lazarus) came to this area and tamed the creature which was then killed by the townspeople. As a consequence, Saint Martha is the patron saint of Tarascon. We went into the church of St. Martha and were fortunate to hear the organist rehearsing. In the basement is a crypt where the remains of St. Martha are held as relics. (So it is said...). On the way back to the ship we went through a park lined with huge sycamore trees planted in the late 1800s.
Later in the afternoon we set sail back to Avignon and had the treat of passing close by the Pont d'Avignon.
All the meals have been delicious. I had grilled scallops as an appetizer, beef bourguinon as the main course and lava cake for dessert. Needless to say, wine flows freely at lunch and dinner. The wait staff are mostly from eastern Europe (Hungary, Serbia, Romania) and the service is excellent, speaking excellent English. Amy noted how homogeneous the passengers are. Of the 165 passengers, there is not a single person of color. 90% of them are likely over age 60. There are 5 passengers under the age of 30.
After dinner we went for a walk up on the sun deck where someone was watering the herb garden which is used to provide fresh herbs for the meals. It was exceptionally fragrant.
In the city hall there were women in traditional Provencal attire binding together branches of lavender which is now at its peak.
Women in traditional Provence attire binding lavender
We also visited the hospital / sanitarium where Vincent van Gogh went after he cut his ear. The garden that was there has been restored to the way that it appeared while he was there.
After lunch, we decided to visit the Tarascon castle, a short walk from the ship. The path was lined with beautiful oleander shrubs.
The castle was built in the 13th century to control the Rhone river and the province to the east. We were able to many of the chambers and climb up all the way to the parapet surrounding the roof. The castle was used as a prison for many centuries, from the Catholic - Protestant wars of the 16th century to the French Revolution and was only closed in 1923. In some of the rooms you can see graffiti carved by the prisoners - one clearly showed an English prisoner who was captured in 1775 and was released in 1777. There is a spectacular view in all directions, including a competing a competing castle just on the other side of the river. Next to the castle one can see the remains of the limestone quarry that was used to supply materials for the castles, churches and mansions for the wealthy.
The name "Tarascon" comes from a mythical creature in the early centuries AD that would eat young people. One of the awful depictions that one sees has a baby in the mouth of the creature. The legend is that Martha (of Mary, Martha and Lazarus) came to this area and tamed the creature which was then killed by the townspeople. As a consequence, Saint Martha is the patron saint of Tarascon. We went into the church of St. Martha and were fortunate to hear the organist rehearsing. In the basement is a crypt where the remains of St. Martha are held as relics. (So it is said...). On the way back to the ship we went through a park lined with huge sycamore trees planted in the late 1800s.
Later in the afternoon we set sail back to Avignon and had the treat of passing close by the Pont d'Avignon.
All the meals have been delicious. I had grilled scallops as an appetizer, beef bourguinon as the main course and lava cake for dessert. Needless to say, wine flows freely at lunch and dinner. The wait staff are mostly from eastern Europe (Hungary, Serbia, Romania) and the service is excellent, speaking excellent English. Amy noted how homogeneous the passengers are. Of the 165 passengers, there is not a single person of color. 90% of them are likely over age 60. There are 5 passengers under the age of 30.
After dinner we went for a walk up on the sun deck where someone was watering the herb garden which is used to provide fresh herbs for the meals. It was exceptionally fragrant.
No comments:
Post a Comment