The Roman Arena at Arles
The tour director for the IP program asked us if we would like to go on a day tour to Arles. We happily accepted the invitation to take the tour which included transportation to Arles and Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer. We biked downtown early in the morning to catch the tour bus. The trip to Arles took about an hour and we arrived at the city center during the weekend market. I suppose I will cover the market in more detail later, so for now we’ll continue with the tour experience.
Our tour guide handed out maps of Arles and was very clear that we should all meet back at the tourist information center at 1:30, and no later as the bus would not wait. Following the instructions we all filed off behind our fearless leader through the thick of the crowded market toward the ‘Place de la Republique.’ The middle of the Place has an obelisk (see photo) that was dug up in 1675 and was once part of the Roman forum. The Hotel de Ville and the Eglise St.-Trophime face the Place de la Republique. There was a brief pause for historical perspective and then we were off in the direction of the arena. Now our first stop was at what appeared to be an amphitheater and was blocked off for reconstruction efforts. I believe that is was the Theatre Antique, though I was unable to follow the french explanation. Yes, I know my loss for not studying harder. Not far past the amphitheater we came to the Roman Arena. The Arena has a very interesting history, though too much to recall for you now, so feel free to look for some more info. I can say that somewhere between 1826-1830 the arena was cleared out in order to begin restoration. At the time they cleaned out the arena there were 212 houses and 2 churches standing inside the arena. After some more historical factoids from our guide, the tour group was set free upon the city to explore on our own.
Looking down the steps from the Arena toward the river.
So off we went. The first thing Christine said was that I should construct our patio in the same style as the arena stairs. 😉 I, of course, sat down with pen and paper and started taking construction notes. Materials, dimensions and relative distances were carefully noted before heading off down that crowded street, there on the right. Without too much exaggeration I remember stopping a several stores that had either displayed very comfortable looking linens or fancy shoes. Oh, the stops we made at shoe stores. I’m sure I have a few photos somewhere, though none at my fingertips at this moment.
We had a very nice walk along the river, around the old Roman bath, through the cloister and even a little of the open air market just as they were closing up and heading out of town. 
Christine and I managed to grab a small bit of food to take with us on the bus as we caught up with the group for the trip to Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer. The trip south to the coast was marked by the beautiful vistas of the Rhone delta flats, wild horses (or maybe not-so-wild,) Flamingos and lots of vegetation. I tried to get a good photo of the flamingos, but without a 800mm zoom lens at the ready, the shots would have to been massively enlarged to even make it clear that it is a flamingo and not an egret off in the distance. When we arrived the temperature in town was in the mid 30’s and we were starting to melt. After a quick look at the church, we went off in search of the beach. I was holding the camera, but Christine was able to take a quick refreshing dip and then we sought shade at a nearby cafe with refreshments at the ready. For more photos, please take a look at the photo page I posted for the days events. Please leave the blog a comment if you like, and if you want to leave a voicemail message please leave it at (206) 202-3342. You can also email me here. Take care all, and hope to hear or see you soon.
-G
If you missed Christine’s movie debut, I’ve posted the trailer here. If “who killed the electric car” was on your list of things to see, but you never got to see it, click here. I think you should see it.