Arles Amphitheatre

Arles Amphitheatre - in “the book.”

It is pretty easy to find a huge coliseum / amphitheater / arena in a small French town. Arles has many Roman ruins, but the coliseum is the main feature. And…the ruins are in a compact area thereby limiting the amount of walking required.

The coliseum is being restored, but it is in really good shape considering its age. I am so amazed at what people built thousands of years ago without the technology we have today. The coliseum has many creepy, dark alcoves and hiding spots. I would not want to be there in the dark.

The other impressive ruin in Arles is the Ancient Theatre. The stage is now very modern, but most of the seating is original. Lying around the area are some of the original columns and other artifacts from Roman times.

Arles is also known as the city where Vincent van Gogh lived and worked near the end of his life. He apparently painted many of his masterpieces here, but the local museum does not have any original art; so we skipped it. Van Gogh was living in Arles when he went mad and cut off his ear.

We visited a local cathedral. It is not an ornate cathedral – pretty plain actually – except for the beautiful stained glass. One section of the cathedral contains boxes with remains. I saw a skull. I could have skipped this part.

Vieux Nice

Vieux Nice = Old Nice

In "the book."

This is the type of neighborhood where you want to get lost. Don't use a map. Just wander around and see where the winding streets take you. You can't really get lost because of the geography, so just go with the flow!

We walked through a market on the edge of Vieux Nice.



I stopped in a chuch that was built in 1640. I lit a candle there for the baby of a colleague. (This one's for you Kaylee Hope!)

I saw maybe a dozen art studio/stores. I love to buy from local, struggling artists. I didn't buy anything though because I saw too many beautiful things and couldn't decide.

I saw pretty fountains and was mooned by a pigeon who was bathing in one of them.


I ate passion fruit gelato.

I ate in a Dutch restaurant. (Yep, this was a bit strange in this part of France, but it was tasty.)


We climbed up to Castle Hill and saw beautiful panoramic views of the Mediterranean. We also stopped and played in a playground.

We saw a Shiba Inu as we were walking down the hill. He was just as stuck-up as my Shiba. I always miss my pup when I am traveling. (My prayer to all of the missing Shibas and humans in Japan.)

UK 15 March

I was working, but took detours to knock two cathedrals off of my list from "1000 places to see before you die."



Cathedral Church of St. Andrew in Wells - interior picture is from this church

Salisbury Cathedral - outside pic is from this church

I was amazed at how large the Salisbury Cathedral is. You can see the steeple for miles...and miles...and miles. And it is impressive standing in front of it.

Europe 2009

These are the places from "1,000 places to see before you die" that we visited on this trip.

London
The Connaught Hotel
Tea at the Ritz
Paris
Hotel de Crillon
Cathedrale Notre Dame de Chartres
Biarritz
The Dordogne
St Emillion
Madrid
Guggenheim Museum Bilbao
San Sebastian
La Cathedral de Toledo
Catalan National Art Museum
La Sagrada Familia
Figueres

Barcelona Spain

4 places from "the book" to check off:

La Sagrada Familia - Gaudi's unfinished cathedral (might be our last cathedral of the trip).
Museu Picasso
Figueres - not in Barcelona. We drove through this part of Spain on our way to elBulli. I wish we had spent the whole day here.

Catalan National Art Museum

We didn't see as much in Barcelona as expected because nearly everything was closed on June 24th for some holiday.

We did spend some time in Guell Park - a park by Gaudi. It was cool. Jill did some swinging. The girl on the swing next to her lost her smile every time the swing slowed down, and smiled big again when mom gave her another push.

Valencia Spain

We went to the Valencia Cathedral - which is beautiful. The main reason for the trip was to see the Holy Grail. Yes, the cup believed to have been used by Jesus is in this cathedral.

We walked around the science museum and art museum. Both have very unique architecture.

We then went to a beach north of Valencia and played in the sea and napped on the beach. I am very red right now.

We drove to Barcelona - the last stop on this trip. Finding our hotel was a bit stressful, but we are here now. I need to find some ice to cool off my sangria!

Toledo Spain

Toledo is a significant town for several reasons, some of which are:

Roman Catholic Cathedral
El Greco
Old city with unusual combinations of architecture

This cathedral is featured in "the book." We started by wandering around the town for two hours before reaching the cathedral. It is not an easy town to walk. Small-stone, narrow streets; and lots of little hills. I picked the wrong day to wear sandles with a little heel. I was in serious pain before we arrived at the cathedral.

I perked up when we went in the cathedral. It is amazing. The detail and craftsmanship is unbelievable. Each stall in the choir area is hand carved in wood and features a different scene. The altar has lots of gold, and is very detailed and intricate.

They have an amazing art collection including works by Caravaggio, Ruebens, Titian, Rafael, and lots of El Greco. It was worth the trip!

Bonus of the day -- no parking ticket despite arriving almost 90 minutes late. Perhaps the local police were having their siesta.

Downside - DH was pick-pocketed. Luckily the only thing they got was the key card for our hotel. My bag was opened twice in five minutes when I was looking at jewelery in a local store. It was probably the same two people DH caught in his pocket. They didn't get anything from my bag.

Castles and Cathedrals

Europe has lots of both. The US doesn't. I was in college when I first toured England. I saw several castles and cathedrals and did not really appreciate them. My teenagers have grown very tired of visiting castles and cathedrals. I am slightly amused by their reaction, because I remember my own first visit. I hope they will appreciate their grandeur and beauty later in their life.

Chartres and the Loire Valley

We started this rainy day by driving out of Paris to Chartres. Driving in, near or around Paris is stressful - add in some rain, and a lack of experience driving a manual transmission and you have a recipe for a bad Monday morning.

The rain had mostly stopped by the time we arrived in Chartres. We visited the cathedral and ate lunch at a local sandwich place. Both were very nice.

We then drove to Amboise to visit Chateau Du Clos Luce - Parc Leonardo Da Vinci. This is the house where Da Vinci died after living here for the last few years of his life. I really like the house, and the grounds and garden are beautiful.

Next stop - Château de Chenonceau. This beautiful Loire Valley castle is built over a river.

We drove back to Amboise to walk around the castle here.

Checking off my list from "the book:"
Loire Valley

Paris - 13 June 2009

First, let me document the places from "the book" that I saw today or on previous trips:
Paris (my third trip)
Hotel de Crillon (today)
Taillevent (12 March 2001) - nicest restaurant I have ever ate at
Cathedrale Notre Dame de Chartres (today)

Started our day at the bakery and took the subway to the Eiffel Tower. We then walked along the Seine and around Place de la Concorde. We went to the Orangerie - tried to go here in 2001 but it was closed. This is a great museum that features huge Monet paintings.


We walked through the Hotel de Crillon. It is beautiful. We then did some window shopping at the exclusive Rue du Faubourg-St-Honoré shopping area. (Hermes, Chanel, Dior, Gucci, D&G, and more)

We then had a leisurely lunch at a Parisian cafe. Took the subway to Notre Dame, waited for a long time, and then walked to the top. The weather was beautiful and we had great views of Paris. I then got to experience this great ice cream place DH and the kids had been to twice already.

We finished with dinner at Alain Ducaisse's Aux Lyonnais restaurant. Jill had her first glass of wine at a restaurant. She did not let me take a picture though. We were not exactly fresh looking after that long walk to the top of Notre Dame.

8,440 steps walked today.