Arles

Today Anne-Francoise is meeting a colleague in Arles for work; I will be dropped off in town and meet up with her at the end of the day. I had a light breakfast and headed into Arles. It is a town that has many of the Roman feeling structures in it. I got to see the amphitheater and a few other major structures. They are rebuilding the amphitheater and it is just amazing to see the work that they have done. Old next to new. I bought a couple of post cards, explored the streets and grabbed a light snack to enjoy while filling out post cards. I got to listen to some guy on a guitar play while filling them out and then I got to check out an exhibit in a church that was really interesting. It was all wood cut into tusk looking shapes that were taller than me. Some had lights in them, some with plastic sections filled with items and others plain wood. The music in the background was earthy. It was a nice layover for a bit.

My only complaint of being in sneakers: my poor feet want to come out and breathe. It is a bit cool to wear my open toed shoes but I need to work something out as I do not want to suffocate my feet – that was all.

I walked around for a bit and then decided to take the train tour. If anyone is planning to visit Arles and thinks this might be good DON’T! Don’t even do it if you are on crutches and cannot walk, the tour was 35 minutes, 5 of which were waiting at another stop. There was less than 5 minutes of talking throughout the entire thing, LESS THAN FIVE MINUTES! This is what they said “up ahead you see carved lions, they are remains” that was it. No driving past the lions, no who carved it or when, it was so bad! I would have asked for my money back but did not feel I knew enough French to overcome that feat. I was surprised since I had done one of these tours in Nice, with much less history in the town but I learned so much more so poo poo to you!

I decided I should look for a place to eat so, after getting lost and wandering around in circles I found an affordable spot for 10 euros. I ordered the plat du jour and my free tap water (yay FRANCE)! I must have been out of the country for too long because I forgot what food items I stay way from…jambon and fois. What did I order? Beef fois or calf liver! After I got it, I cut into it…paused. Ate it, paused and tried not to gag. I had about three more bites before it registered what I ordered, then I ate the potatoes and bread with the sauce that was over the liver - those were delicious!!

I headed back to a main square where a French class was having a field trip. I could imagine it being a fun place to live and learn . It was also good to see the kids trying to focus and failing…miserably. The kids looked like they were middle school/freshman age. It was interesting to see and to try to listen to the teacher. Anyway, that is all for now. Just relaxing before meeting back up at four.