On
Thursday, May 4, 2000, the group again boarded the bus for another full day of visiting sites in the South of France. We began our day with the Roman sights in Arles. Arles sits on a low hill where the Rhone River branches in two parts to the sea. The commune is the largest in France, with an area of 75,893 ha (about 170,000 acres). The town dates back to the 7th century BC, and was a major Gallo-Roman city. The streets of this city are truly medieval in character: narrow and winding between ancient buildings. Automobile traffic is permitted on many of them, but walking is much easier. A walking tour of the town center was followed by a visit to the amphitheater. The first inhabitants of Arles were probably the Greeks, however the Romans left a stronger mark, constructing the theater and amphitheater that remain and is to this day the biggest tourist attraction. The Dutch painter Vincent van Gough produced much of his best work - and chopped off his hear- in Arles during a frenzied 15-month spell just before his suicide at 37.
After lunch at a local restaurant, we continued on our journey. We drove to St. Remy for a visit to the Hotel de Sade, an Archeology Museum. Seeing these incredible artifacts reminds us of the rich cultural and natural heritage that exists in France and all of Europe.
