Things are looking up

 Wait, no, I'm looking up.  And this is what I'm seeing.

I hope that things are looking up for you!

Old doors

I'm fascinated by old buildings, their adornments, hardware, doors and shutters.  In my neighborhood, some of the buildings are 2000 years old, others are only 200, although many modifications have been made to modernize the interior spaces.  Some buildings are in need of paint, others are well taken care of.

But today, I visited three doors that exuded evil, in a building next to City Hall.  Behind these doors during WW II, Arlesians were held as they awaited shipment to Nazi death camps. This is what evil looks like.

Another day in the Camargue

We went cycling in the Camargue (from les Stes. Maries de la Mer) again and were delighted to encounter a bird that we had never seen before, the Eurasian spoonbill.  Nearby water gates were open, and a variety of birds seized the opportunity to feed on whatever might be flowing into the ponds.

Spoonbill is in the center

Spoonbill in rear, with bill in water

Spoonbill on left (viewing its bill from the side),
egret on right with shorter bill

Spoonbills feed quite differently from egrets, sweeping their bills from side to side in the water.  This is what I first noticed, as seen above.

In addition, we saw a grey heron, lots of little egrets, and a few avocets.

Grey heron

Little egret

The tallest building in Stes. Maries de la Mer is the church, and we can see it from miles away as we cycle toward the town.  It's an interesting building for several reasons, one of which is that for a small fee, you can climb up to the roof of the building and enjoy the view from up there.  I didn't climb this year, but I have in the past.

The church

Tourists up on the church roof top

And no trip to Stes. Maries de la Mer is complete without running into a promenade of chevals blancs, the white horses native to this area.

O is for obelisk

Or as they say over here: obelisque.  Paris has a giant obelisk in Place de Concorde, Arles has this lovely obelisk in Place de la Republique.

And great attention was paid to the sculpted fountain features and lions that adorn this installation.

Swan fountain feature

Man wearing a skinned lion fountain feature

Lions guarding the corners

Lions are emblematic of Arles, and appropriately adorn the obelisk in front of the Hotel de Ville (City Hall)

Roman aqueduct

This morning, we visited ruins of the nearby two-channel aqueduct that provided water to Arles in Roman times and powered a mill to grind flour.  On the north side of the road, a long stretch of the aqueduct is visible.  As you walk to the south, some parts of the aqueduct have been restored and other parts are pretty broken down, but what remains is still quite impressive.

Aqueduct north of the road

South of the road

Olive grove adjacent to the aqueduct

The channel above the mill

Walking through this channel above the mill, we were greeted by the sound of sheep and goats wearing cowbells in the field below.  It was quite lovely.

In honor of Memorial Day in the US, red poppies from the aqueduct.

Life is a carousel

And practically every town of any size around here has a carousel.  But each one is customized in some way.  This one in le Grande Motte features several versions of seahorses, a porpoise, and a boat, all thematically tied to the sea.  

But I was surprised to see the artwork above the carousel had images of canals and gondolas.  There are certainly canals around here, but the ones on the carousel were the canals of Venice.  This was clear from the panel that named it Venetian Carousel of la Grande Motte.

The far end of the market

We normally go shopping in the food sections of the Saturday market, but today, I was looking for a mug and figured that I could find one if I searched to the end of the market.  So I walked down the middle of the road and looked at all the merchandise on both sides of the street.  There were some very nice pots and pans, lots of plastic items, and plenty of clothing, but no mugs.

Behind the mound of clothing, these signs mark the freeway ramp
(closed on market day)

Many long dresses for sale at 5 to 10 euros apiece.

Knick knacks of all kinds

The last booth of the market:  men's sleeveless tee shirts for 2 euros

Chill

We had a chilly morning cycling, but after a light rain the sun came out and so this afternoon, we went out for coffee at our neighborhood cafe.

Enjoy your day!

Somethings old somethings new

Today I was walking around an old section of the city and came across some old arches.  These were portals to a convent that was here from the 15th to 18th century, where noble families from Arles sent their daughters.

This building is Chappell Saint-Jean-de-Moustiers, a church in 12th century Arles.

Now for the new:

Le Post.  One of the interesting ways they deliver mail here.

And le haircut.  Bori got his hair cut by a very talented Moroccan stylist today.

Building adornments

I'm not exactly sure what exactly to call them, but many buildings in Arles have lovely, sculpted adornments, especially above doors and windows.  Some pieces have been extensively eroded over the years, while others have persisted.  Here are two examples that struck me today.

This building is across the street from the Roman theater

This face seemed out of context with everything else

This is one face of the Hotel de Ville (City Hall)

Female sphinxes!