Well today the birthday boy gets to pick what he wants to do.
The Provence region has a very heavy Roman influence and was part of the Roman Empire beginning in 121 B.C. In fact, Provence didn’t become part of France until the 15th century.
So today, we are going to the town of Arles to see the ancient Roman Amphitheater. Built in the early 1st century, the amphitheater is still in use today mainly for bulls fights several times a week. Of note, the bulls here do not get killed like those in Spain. The site holds 20,000 people, by way of comparison, the Coliseum in Rome held 50,000 in its heyday.
The town itself has classic Roman architecture, and one of the hotels on the main street is named for Julius Caesar, looks like he could have stayed there as well. We also visit the Saint Trophime Basilica, a very ornate church.
On the way back to Aix, we take the scenic route and stop at Chateau Virant a producer of both wine and olive oil to stock up on provisions.
We were able to score a reservation at Mitch, a very nice dining establishment located in the old part of town. We had an excellent dinner, I had a filet and Dick had the veal. A stop at our local watering hole on the way home finishes off a wonderful day.
M.
I can think of a lot of worse places to spend a birthday than in Provence!
About an hour from Aix is Arles, seat of an important Roman province. Many of the Roman monuments are listed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Vincent van Gogh lived in the city for a few years and many of his most famous works are based on local scenes. The famous ‘ear-severing’ incident took place in Arles and resulted in van Gogh being confined in the ‘Old Hospital of Arles’ on a couple of occasions. It’s a busy place now with a number of universities and tourists (like us!) checking out the Roman sites and Mr. van Gogh’s legacy.
So far things have gone well with our rental car (which is surprising considering the tight roads, lively driving habits, and creative parking). Almost a HUGE faux pas as I narrowly avoided leaving the Arles parking garage via a pedestrian walkway. A few of the local pedestrians were highly amused. Can’t blame the garmin on this one, nor was there any libation involved – just me misunderstanding the ‘sortie’ signs.
After finally working our way out of the garage we took a scenic ride through the village of Salon-de-Provence and the ‘Parc Nature Regional de Camargu’ where forks in the Rhone river form the Camargue delta. Beautiful country with much different landscape than we’ve seen before. The area is also home to a number of smaller wineries which are part of the ‘Coteaux D’ Aix en Provence’ appellation. Rose’s & reds are the prize winners here.
Aix is blessed with some wonderful dining and Mary secured a coveted reservation for us at ‘Mitch’ in the old quarter. A lovely night to dine al-fresco and a fine meal to celebrate my birthday.
D.
