When life gives you clouds

Serve up some French cooking!

We have had a really damp spring in Arles, including lots of thunderstorms moving through here.  Not really the kind of weather you want to be out and about in.

So I'm sharing some recent plates we enjoyed.

Seafood ravioli

Melon gaspacho

Small razor clams

Seafood salad

Seeking sunshine

Today was another gray, rainy day, with the possibility of thunderstorms in the forecast.  After staying inside all morning,  we had cabin fever.  So we headed south to the sea.  This time we took a route we had never driven, down the east side of the Rhone River to Port St. Louis, a town we had never been to.  Things were going well until a detour in the middle of town, so we ended up just driving around, looking for a way to reach the water.

But we found it.  And the clouds parted, bringing us a patch of sunshine.

Port St. Louis is an industrial port, and not particularly charming, especially when you are lost, but finding the water was nice.  And I found some pretty little sea shells at the water's edge.

To make things more interesting on the way home, we took a 5-minute ferry ride across the Rhone to Salin-de-Giraud.

The Rhone, from the ferry

We stopped for café in Le Sambuc, and watched a game of boules in progress.

They bring out the measuring tape to settle which boule is closest

But then at least 2 guys measure the distances

I learned something watching these guys:  If you don't want to bend over to pick up your boules, you can use a strong magnet on a long band to lift the boule from the ground.

Bull country

Many of the places we travel down here have a deep connection with bulls.  Even tiny little towns have their own arenas for bull events.  Bulls are popular in life and in art.  The love for bulls is much like the Spanish connection to bulls.  Taureau is also regularly featured on menus for dinner.

Towns that hold bull events occasionally run the bulls a couple of blocks down the street to the arenas.  In which case, they post warning signs.

Warning posted in Stes. Maries de la Mer

Below are photos of a few more arenas from this area.

Public arena in le Grau du Roi (with bull sculptures)

Private arena for tour groups in Mejanes

Massive Roman arena in Arles

Here are a few more artistic depictions of bulls.

Bull images for sale in Stes. Maries de la Mer

A bull a block north of the arena in Arles

A bull dressed like a bullfighter, in Mejanes

The roads we take

This year, we have made an effort to really avoid the freeways and take back roads as often as possible.  The pace is less stressful, and the sights are often quite remarkable.

However, many of the roads are quite narrow.  In many cases, the roads cannot be widened because they are lined with plane trees that were planted long ago.

Sometimes, buildings are built quite close to the edge of the road.

This week, our travels took us across this three-arched, single-lane bridge across the Petit Rhone, in Forques, twice.  There is no traffic light, and lines of sight are limited.  On the bridge, there is a pull-out space for 2 or 3 vehicles to wait for oncoming traffic to pass.  Quite impressive.  Doesn't appear to be a truck route, thank goodness.

The sign warns that passage is limited to 3 cars at a time

The pull out near the center arch

Camargue culture

This morning, we headed down to the Camargue to bicycle, then we had planned to take in the Carmargue bull races this afternoon.  But after more than three hours of cycling, and eating lunch, we realized that it was certainly going to rain later in the afternoon.  So, we headed out of Stes. Maries de la Mer about when the rain started.

Eglise des Saintes Maries

The arena in Stes. Maries de la Mer

Sculpture of bull trying to jump the fence

A sculpture on the arena of a bull chasing a runner over the fence

After eating lunch, I walked over to the arena, and caught a glimpse of several people in traditional costume for the bull races. They seemed to be leaving a dress rehearsal for their performance later in the day.

Oohs for Uzes

Yesterday, we finally made it to Uzes, the first duchy (residence of the dukes) of France.  This small town, which is located near the spring which fed the Roman aqueduct to Nimes, is historic, charming, and well preserved.  The high tower of the Duche dates back to the 11th century, but most other buildings are newer, dating from the 17th or 18th century, with improvements and additions continuing into the 19th century.

Uzes was a rich town of silk merchants and others.

Visually, this is a delightful place.  We hope to return to spend more time in Uzes.

Place Albert 1st

Place Albert 1st

Part of the Duchy

More of the Duchy

The high tower of the Duchy

Cobblestone street

Street scene

One of the towers of the Duchy

More art

This morning, we drove north to reach Bagnols-sur-Ceze.  We visited this town to see the Musee Albert Andre, which is quite nice for a small town.

We followed the car's GPS to the center of Bagnols and found a parking place.  We didn't have an address for the museum, or a map of the town, but after speaking with a couple of locals, we realized that we had parked about 2 blocks from the main square, le Place Auguste Mallet.  Our guide book told us that the main square had two buildings of note: a clock tower and the Hotel de Ville (city hall).  The Musee Albert Andre is located inside the Hotel de Ville.

Place Auguste Mallet, with clock tower

Hotel de Ville

Self-portrait by Albert Andre

The museum contained quite a lot of paintings by Albert Andre. 

But also the works of several other contemporaries.

A sculpture by Rodin

Paintings by a variety of other artists.