Arles - Part 1. They're not kidding about this Mistral thing

"The mistral is a strong, cold and northwesterly wind that blows from southern France into the Gulf of Lion in the northern Mediterranean, with sustained winds often exceeding forty kilometers an hour, and sometimes reaching one hundred kilometers an hour"

I am now experiencing this.  The wind has been blowing for three days.  And I mean, constantly.  Like, there's no lull whatsover.  Sometimes it's a little harder, sometimes a little softer, but it really doesn't stop at any point.  The sun is out and it's still warm, so it's not bad, per se.  It does, however, add a whole other level to my workout when I go running!

My host mom is a busy stay-at-home/ work-from-home mom.  Pretty often, she'll drop me off to explore a town as she goes to an appointment, and I'm getting to see a lot of the Provence region this way.  We were in Arles recently, which is chock full of Roman ruins.  All over the place!  This region was inhabited by the Romans, among other civilizations, and has bits of ruins everywhere, in various states of .. well.. ruin.  Some charge you to see them and give tours, some are just sitting around in fields.  Either way though, preserving their history is very important to people here.

Darling little street in Arles.  But really, they're
all this adorable.

When we arrived in Arles, I got dropped off at the Tourism Office, which is always a great place to start a visit to a new city, I've learned.  I take brochures of anything and everything that catches my eye - restaurants, excursions, festivals, and most especially, anything explaining the history of buildings or the area, because knowing what you're looking at makes it SOO much more interesting!  It's happened in the past that I've found out, after the fact, that I passed a really cool building or location that I was completely oblivious to the significance of.  That's best avoided by researching the area, even if that just means, asking someone to tell you about the area.  Tourism offices are also a great place to find bus schedules (if that's how I'm traveling), and I always always pick up a city map!  It seems like there's usually someone there who speaks at least a little English, so if I need directions, or ideas of things to do, I can get some help on that also.  Even if I already have an idea of what I want to visit, I'll still ask about the best things to see in town.  They know.  It's their job to know.  And until you ask, you don't even know what it is you don't know.

 This lovely man was playing jazz at 

the Place de la Republique.  Somehow, 

good music finds me everywhere I go.

In Arles (as in most places, probably), the Office de Tourisme is located in the city center, within walking distance to most of the major sites.  I got a map, which had the ruins helpfully marked with big pictures (Arles is a big tourist stop), asked about where the main shopping was to be found, and off I went.

Cloister of St. Trophime

I started out at in the very center of town at the Place de la Republique, which was conveniently marked with an obelisk, city hall, and cathedral, all located around a square with a fountain.  Hard to miss.  I marveled, as I always do in the presence of old European architecture, at the countless number of painstaking hours that must have gone into the creation of the statues and ornate decorations, of which these are amazing examples, the cathedral and cloister of St. Trophime especially.  Definitely a labor of love.

Main entrance to the cathedral
of St. Trophime

Before leaving the tourism office, I had mapped out a route to get to the sites that looked the most interesting to me, while also avoiding having to retrace my steps.  However, the wind was blowing pretty hard, which, as it turns out, makes it kind of hard to read a map.  I don't want to say I was lost, because you can't get lost if you don't REALLY mind where you're going.  ..right?  Besides, the ruins were all within about an 8 block radius of each other, so it's not like you could really ever be LOST lost. The streets just didn't all go through like you'd hope, or necessarily go in straight lines.  So I MEANDERED, purposefully of course, through some back streets.  A lot of back streets.  Retracing of steps definitely happened.  I stopped in a parfumerie for a while to smell pretty things, looked at the shops, and almost bought a picture of a field of the red flowers that are so typical here.  (I really like buying pictures of flowers, I've discovered).  The meandering also tends to lead me to much pastry-eating.  You really can't walk more than 2 or 3 minutes in any direction without finding a bakery or patisserie in any city in France.  It's like Starbucks in Seattle.  Luckily, eating pastries is one of my favorite hobbies.

I eventually found, I mean, arrived at, the site of the old Roman baths - the Thermes de Constantin.  I was buying a ticket at the entrance and the man told me I could buy a ticket for this site for 3€, or a month pass for 9 of the sites in Arles for 9€.  Let me do some math to see if it's worth it, no wait, never mind, yes of course I'll buy that.

Looking across the Rhone to the far bank, where you can
see the remains of twin lion figures guarding the entrance
to the bridge (that no longer exists) that was the
gateway into Arles in Roman times.

The baths were a couple of blocks from the city wall that marked the perimeter of the city in Roman times, along the Rhone river.  I couldn't be that close to water and not go look at it, so after the baths, I walked the few blocks to the wall, and climbed up some steps to the top.  Holy cow, was the wind strong up there!  Remember that mistral that's been blowing?  It was crazy!  My hair had been whipping around all day anyway, DESPITE being tied back, and I'd been walking through narrow streets which were a little more protected from the wind.  But up here on the top of the wall, it was pretty open.  My phone was almost blowing out of my hands as I took pictures!  I leaned into the wind at one point and tried to fall forward... And didn't.  Just to give you an idea of how strong it was.

Standing on top of the old city wall along the Rhone river, with wind at a bazillion kph (if I'm converting
that from mph correctly)

At this point I was right behind the Musée Réattu. I'm not usually big on museums, but this was one of the places covered by my Awesome Pass, so what the hey, I went it.  It was modern design in an old building, which is always interesting, not very big, and had modern and Renaissance pieces by artists I'd never heard of.  But the coolest thing was a letter on display that had been written by Vincent Van Gogh!  Van Gogh lived in and and loved Provence, and you can buy prints and magnets and postcards of his work at all the souvenir shops.  I have also visited the Langlois Bridge, just outside of Arles, renamed the Van Gogh bridge since he painted it about five times, and it makes a better tourist attraction that way.  I've also been to the mental hospital near St. Remy de Provence, where he also spent quite a bit of time.

Painting of bridge

Actual bridge

Next, on to the arena! Time was running short; 2 and a half hours flies when you're trekking around a city on foot.  The arena was built in 90 AD!  It's pretty well preserved, and of course it's been restored over the years, but the most amazing thing to me was that it's still in use!  There are bullfights held here, as well as other events.  Inside, it has those little signs on the walls that tell you which direction to go to find your seat.  Full stadium status.  I love that it's still in use.  It's been standing for over 1,000 years, why NOT take care of it and keep on using it?  It was built to last forever and it really just might.  Standing at the top of the tower in front and gazing over the city to the river became one of my favorite things to do in Arles.  It's really peaceful, (except for all the tourists filing past you and taking pictures, but you know, you make your own space), and offers you a moment to let your mind wander and contemplate things.  Like life, the universe, and why those little orange roofs look so darn cute.

The view from the top of the Arena to the Rhone is worth the climb

Arles has a long and fascinating history, with lots more to see than I could possibly have covered in 2 hours.  Another trip was in order.  Stay tuned for what else I discovered here!

Gladiators dueling it out for some school kids on tour

A day in Marseille

We took a trip to the big city this week, and it didn't disappoint, I tell you what.  My host mom had an appointment in Marseille on Monday.  She invited me to come with her, and then do some sightseeing after.  It's about the same travel time by train or car, so we took the train, since parking is expensive/impossible in Marseille.  As in most large cities (cough Seattle cough).

I love using the underground and train systems.  I don't know why, really, since they're dark and frequently smelly, and full of people who are in a hurry.  And frequently people who are smelly.  But there's something about getting on the train with people coming from all directions, whose lives intersect for a moment on a train ride.  I always wonder where they're coming from and where they're going, and what they ate for breakfast, and weird stuff like that.

So we went to our appointment first, in an apartment building with a doorbell that played Dixie.  Afterwards, we took the trolley down to the main city center by the docks to hang out.

It doesn't get much fresher than this!

Marseille basically exists because of its harbour. It's the second largest city in France, after Paris, and one of the oldest.  It's first official settlement was founded around 600 BC by the Greeks, although it was settled looong before, and it has been conquered and re-conquered many times since.

It's a center of commerce, and has ships coming in from all over the Mediterranean.  We walked through a street market selling fruits and vegetables from France and Spain and Africa.  The food stands smelled incredible, cooking pizza, and bread, and Tunisian food.  We were both pretty hungry, but we were able to hold out until we got to a restaurant by the water.

Moules frites.  Yes they served me my fries on a slate tile.

The waterfront is lined with restaurants, no big surprise, with a boardwalk in a U shape around he harbour.  The side of the U that we were on was more for the vacationers and tourists, with the other side being a little dressier, evening-out-ie.  Every restaurant along the waterfront's specialty was Moules Frites (mussels and fries), so of course I had to try them.  I mean, I doubt I would find a better moules frites than right here.  I should point, though, out that I'm a leeetle teeny tiny bit squeamish when it comes to seafood.  I don't like when there are eyes or unidentifiable appendages, or if it tastes, y' know, fishy.  (I like fish, but there are lots of other kinds of seafood that are not my favorite thing to eat).  I won't lie, I preferred the fries.  I love fries.  But the mussels were juicy, and garlicky, and actually tasted pretty good!  I would eat them again!  I call that a win.

Our next plan was to take a water taxi across the harbour to the other side of the U.  However, the taxi was closed right then, so we walked through the Old Town area for a bit instead.  Except for the restaurants, pretty much everything closes for a couple of hours in the middle of the day in France, for lunch.  (That may be less true in the cities, ie: the shopping stayed open, but it's definitely true in the villages!)

A wonderfully old door, which
is also telling me that
it's time to dance

I can't believe I didn't get a good picture showing just how OLD these buildings and back streets are!  We stopped in a small store selling olive oil soap that looked like it had been there since the Greeks.  It felt like a cavern, and you could see down into what looked like an old cellar that was storing their soap inventory.  The stairs everywhere were worn and grooved, the doors had intricate latches and hinges.  It was fascinating.  But the area is also still very much in use.  We stopped to look in a couple of consignment shops, we passed a school with kids yelling in the playground.  It's definitely worth exploring, if you ever visit Marseille.  Just go up the stairs next to the Town Hall (you can see them in the picture at the bottom) and veer left.  Just don't get lost up in there.

I wish we could have checked this out a little more
It says undARTground and has this amazing drawing
on the outside.  People were going in as we passed, and it
all looked very cloak-and-dagger, if you know what I mean.

The Marseille Eye!  And, a giant red shoe. 

After that, we took our water taxi for a quick trip across the water, and then did a little shopping.  I love shopping in Marseille!  There are so many shops with all different styles, ranging from the cheapest of the cheap to much higher end things.  There's so much to just wander around and look at!

And then what trip to Marseille would be complete without a run in with a pickpocket, yes?  I actually caught one with his hand halfway in my purse as I was paying for a drink at a market!  The audacity!!  It was a small store and we were all crowded around the register, I left my purse open as I looked up for a moment to hand the clerk my money...  Classic situation.  (Don't worry, he didn't get anything).  It's sad that stereotype is so true, but there it is.  My host mom even told me to not wear jewelery because it would get stolen right off me.  Oh well, the perils of places you're not familiar with.  It turned out all right in the end, lesson learned.  And regardless, I had a great time in Marseille, and would definitely love to spend some more time here!

City Hall, looking out across the harbour.  One of the
oldest buildings in the city.
  You can kind of see the boardwalk area in
the lower left hand corner of the picture, and the stairs
to the right that lead up into the old town area.

France. Where tailgating is a way of life.

The village where I'm staying is only a few hours drive from the Alps.  My host family has a small apartment there, LITERALLY less than a 5 minute walk to a ski resort.  Both my host mom and dad (I call them my host mom and dad, but they're both less than 10 years older than I am, haha!) love to ski, so this is a pretty sweet setup, as you can imagine.  They come a couple of times a year to live on the slopes in the winter, and hike in the summer.  We visited last weekend to welcome my host mom's sister's new baby!

Their parents were meeting us up there, so my host parents, their baby, and I all piled into their car for the 3 hour drive.

It should be noted at this point that 99% of the vehicles around here are teeny tiny.  As in, they make American "compact" cars looks like big waddling hippos in comparison.  They're mostly 2-door, and their ends are all tucked in, so they look very cute.  French people go bopping around the country in these cutsie little cars.  The speedomoters are all in kilometers, of course, and despite having been raised in Canada, I am no longer familiar with the exchange rate with the American system.  I've been assimilated, apparently.  So I can't tell you how fast we're going.  I DO know the speed limit signs say 50 km/hr on the back roads (remember, I'm living out in the country here), and the Autoroute (French freeway) says 110km/hr, but I'm preeeetty sure we're surpassing that. 

European drivers have somewhat of a reputation in America, and I'll tell you right now,  it's well earned.  The normal following distance between you and the next car seems to be approximately 3 inches.   They're not being rude,  that's just how everyone drives.  If they think you're driving too slow, they'll just go around you.  Even if there are cars coming towards you on your two lane road.   It's all good.

Anyway, we took the Autoroute, which charges you to drive it, btw, for 2 hours, then wound up our way up to the apartment in the mountains for the next hour.  Needless to say, driving through the Alps gives you some pretty spectacular views.

Which continued throughout the entire weekend.

Our time there was spent hanging out with family eating, hiking, eating some more, and talking.

I absolutely loved the way the clouds would play over the mountains.  So spectacular!

I had one of the most amazing things I've ever eaten this weekend - a slow roasted tomato, onion, and garlic dish made by my host mom's mom.   It was one of those times when you stop paying attention to anything else because your brain is going crazy with the amazing flavors you're experiencing.  Who knew a bunch of roasted tomatoes could be that good?!

Kind of makes you want to throw out your arms and belt out,
"The hiiiills are aliiive...."

We also went to a lovely little restaurant.  Its specialty was meat, potatoes, potatoes, and potatoes.   We had them au gratin, fried like little hush puppies with honey on top, and my favorite, in little raviolis.  It was very good,  but I ate basically salad and yogurt for the next few days afterwards!

Am I supposed to #nofilter these?  I'm not really
sure how those work, honestly. 

We hiked up to the ruins of an old castle (because what's a visit to a town in France without an old chateau nearby!)  There wasn't much left, as you can see.

My experience so far is that the people in France are SO considerate!  It was pretty cold here, and I hadn't figured on needing anything more than a light jacket during my trip, so I found myself a little unprepared.  One of the friends of the family we were visiting with LITERALLY gave me the shirt (well, sweater) off his back, so I wouldn't freeze.  So nice!!  It made all the difference, and I was able to enjoy our outings.

Not my sweater

The next day, we went hiking up past the most adorable little village, called Prapic.  It's a mountain lover's dream, tucked into the mountainside up near the peaks.  It's at the end of the road, for cars at least.  They get visitors during the summer who are there for the hiking, and are pretty much snowed in during the winter.  The village is so tiny, and you can imagine that things probably haven't changed much over the last several hundred years.

Up above Prapic, where we had our picnic lunch.

A waterfall we passed on our hike

It was totally Marmot Land up here!
Can you see the little guy?!

Statue to the greatest marmot of them all!

Yes, that is my finger in the left hand corner.
Yes, I am a rad photographer like that.