Wanderin' 'round the South of France.

So, last day of the River Cruise and we ended up with half a day of free time in Arles. (Pronounced "Arrll"). Because we've created a few dramas for ourselves on this trip by making assumptions, we decided to spend some time checking out our next move - which involved moving from the ship into a hotel in Arles. So, we picked up a tourist map from the ship - which shows something less than half the streets in any given town - and off we went. 

Now, for those of us who are just a little bit geographically challenged, if you look at a map, and the writing is the right way up, north always seems to be left! Unless... You're in the Northern Hemisphere, where the next rule applies: "When in doubt, turn right!" So following these simple guidelines we wandered about Arles for the next couple of hours, and found all sorts of interesting bits and bobs... Or, things that my wife has come to refer to as... "Bits of old tat!" So, here's one of the bits we found...

This is the Roman Ampitheatre in Arles. Do you know the difference between a Roman Ampitheatre and a Roman Theatre? 

I do... Here's a hint... This is a Roman Theatre in Orange...

See the difference? So now you know!... But do you care?

Now, one more piece of unnecessary information I picked up... The theatre in Orange is the best, most original and most complete example of a Roman Theatre in the Western Roman Empire. Not entirely sure where the Western Roman Empire is, but hey!

Ok, enough of that...

So, before we left New Zealand, we were told that we should take the opportunity to see The Camarge while we were in the South of France. The guide on one of the tours we were on... somewhere... said we should go and see The Camarge. When we went to the tourist information centre in Arles, the lady there said we should go and visit The Camarge... So we did... and here it is...

Mmmmmmmmm??

But once you get through The Camarge you get to Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer on the Mediterranean Coast and it's all different - not necessarily better - just different...

So, lesson learned... don't visit The Camarge or Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer in November.

Anyway, we mooched around Arles for the next couple of days and then moved on to Orange, which is a little further inland, just on the north side of Avignon. We spent four days there and wandered about all over the place. We had a great day at Pont du Gard. This surprised me a bit, 'cause when it was offered as a tour on the river cruise it didn't sound particularly interesting, but we had a day to spare so wandered down to have a look... I'm really glad we did...

Check out the photo on the bottom left. See the dude in the arch? This'll give you an idea of how huge this thing is. They've got a museum there that tells the whole story and they've re-enacted some of the building work and made videos. Great place to visit.

Now for those of you who've been following our adventures and taking notes as we move about, I'm sure you'll know that we went to Viviers when we were on the river cruise. Remember?? 

'Cause you do... It's where we went on the Ghost Walk and it was one of the highlights of the cruise.

Ok? Up with the play now? When we were there it looked like it'd be a good place to see in daylight, and we were right... Here's a couple of photos, but there's more in the album...

This is the view from the top of the wall of the old fortress.

And this is the old watchtower on top of the wall of the old fortress. It was well worth the return trip.

Anyway, we spent a nice few days around Orange and then it was off to Nice for a day and a bit. On the way we played silly buggers with the toll booths on the motorways... Again!! But we eventually got there. In hindsight we probably should have spent a day less in Orange and an extra day in Nice. We were kinda planning on spending some of our time going to see Monte Carlo, but there was so much to see in Nice that we just ended up staying there.

The first night we arrived we wandered off for a walk and found our first Christmas Markets...

Pretty cool, huh?

Problem was, it was all glitz and bling and pretty ordinary markets. Even so, it was quite something to see, and we get to see some real markets in the next few days.

Next stop after Nice is Prague, so I'll tell you all about that next. In the meantime here's some more photos of the South of France...

https://picasaweb.google.com/102502153151045712202/SouthOfFrance?noredirect=1

Bye for now.