A day out in Arles

Tuesday 10 June 2014

Blog post by the mother

It is a hard life that we have here in St Remy de Provence.  Miss 7 rolls out of bed in the morning and has a breakfast of Banania (hot chocolate drink much loved by French children), a pain au chocolat and fresh cherries and strawberries.  I can see that we are going to have some issues when we have to go back to NZ winter breakfasts of porridge and toast!

 After our delicious breakfast we headed off to visit the historic town on Arles - again only a 30 minute drive away.  Arles is famous for having been host to a number of famous painters including Vincent Van Gogh.  The light is gorgeous and the town itself is very picturesque so the attraction to artists is obvious. Below is the Hotel de Ville with the fountain in front.

 

I love the lion's face that is on the fountain, noble and a little sad.  The kids all said that it reminded them of Rocky.  Yes, we are all missing him.

 

 Walking through the streets we kept coming across little visual treasures many of which I simply can't capture in a photo.  I have become a wee bit obsessed with houses with painted shutters and geraniums - as you will see below!

Arles is also famous for it's Roman ruins - a theatre and a coliseum which is still used today for bull- fighting.  The father and the teenagers went off to explore the coliseum while the rest of us went to explore the little streets nearby. 

 We found a fantastic shop selling Provencal designed clothes in the most wonderfully vibrant fabrics and colours.  I purchased a pair of espadrilles - maybe to use at home as slippers? We also found the gates into the old part of the walled city and the city fountain

 Walking alongside the river we also spotted these gorgeous houses.

 After a picnic in the park surrounded by French school children who are all doing trips before the end of their school year we headed back to the villa.  The only place to be in the heat of the afternoon is in the pool and then having some quiet time doing homework inside.  See how industrious they all are!

 Dinner was a barbeque cooked by Papa in his snazzy new hat. We thought we would try some andouillette sausages which were on special at the supermarket.  They proved to be rather confronting in that they are very 'rustic' and meaty.  A little bit too much for most of us except for Mr 14 who proved yet again that he will eat anything provided that it is wrapped in bread.  Thank goodness that we had some delicious tarte tatin and sorbet to look forward to for dessert.