Day 415: Roman Ruins in Arles

More Roman ruins today, though thankfully the last batch for a while! These are in Arles, a not-especially-attractive city about an hour south of Avignon.

We parked up and checked out the main sights - a large amphitheatre, not quite as well preserved as the one in Nimes. There was also a Roman theatre, though much of that was gone too - the one in Orange was in way better condition. But there was also the basilica of Saint-Trophime which had a gorgeous Romanesque portal doorway, covered in sculpture. Romanesque style dates from usually around the 11th-13th centuries and is quite distinctive, so I enjoyed that one.

Next up we wanted to check out the Cryptoporticus, or the underground tunnels, but these were closed today for undetermined reasons. Next up was the old Roman cemetery on the road just outside of town, semi-interesting but again not much to see.

Last stop was at the end of the cemetery, an old church which was once a key stop on the Camino del Santiago (aka the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela). The French have their own World Heritage site for their routes to SDC, so we decided that rather than walking it like we eventually might with the Spanish one, we'd just visit a few of the churches and other buildings and call it a day. So we kicked that process off here.

Back to Avignon around mid-afternoon where I went shopping - my microphone has stopped working and the sound on my videos isn't recording well - lots of wind noise. I bought a proper microphone from an electronics store, but would discover later that it's a powered microphone and won't work with an iPhone! Oh dear - not the best day all round.Read more