Arles - without the boat

We had been told the Roman ruins and walled nature of the old town made Arles worth a visit. We had hoped initially to visit it by cycling, back when we were based in Port Saint Louis, but the timing was never right and then we hoped to stop there with Take Five as our first Rhône mooring but we weren’t allowed to moor along side the Peniche restaurant, a barge boat, due to Covid restrictions so we took a train.
The old walled town is very picturesque and large sections of the walls remain but they no longer ring the town as they do here in Avignon and did in Aigues Mortes. Not all of the tourist sites were open due to Covid but we did visit the Roman Theatre and the Roman Amphitheater. Both are used today so certain adaptations and restorations have been made. I think if we hadn’t already visited numerous examples of both we would have been more impressed. From the exterior the Amphitheater looks great but inside there is a lot of tiered metal seating and the interior circle is wood lined for the bull fights regularly held there. We were told no bulls are killed but who knows. We both ate delicious galettes for lunch to pretend we were in northern rather than southern France.
Tomorrow we have decided to move on probably not far hopefully to Rochemaure for a wine tour about the Côte du Rhône appellation which originated there.Read more