Jun 8th - Avignon (DT to Orange)

 Another day-trip today this time to Orange, a small town north of Avignon and famous for its well-preserved Roman theatre.  Considering it’s over 2000 years old, this UNESCO listed theatre is in great condition and still has its original stage back-wall.  I’m sure the original builders would be proud to think that it’s still with us after all these years.  However, whoever thought that renovating the seating with bright white concrete and black painted seats needs shooting!  At the very least they should have used a similar coloured stone that blended in with the original ‘honey coloured’ stone and not something that clashes.  It just looks awful and is really disappointing. 

Our next visit was to the ‘Museum of Art and History’ and, wow, what a dud this was!  Sparsely exhibited, and only over 3 small floors (and one of these was closed!), their best artefacts were the archaeological finds from the ancient theatre across the road.

Our last visit, and highlight of the day, was to the ‘Arc de Triomphe’ a triumphal arch built during the reign of emperor Augustus (27 BC–AD 14).  This is the second UNESCO site in town and was built to commemorate Caesar’s 2nd Legion victories during the Gallic wars. 



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

May 1st/ 2nd - Oslo to Bodø

Image
  May 1st Norwegian ‘Labour Day’ today and if all shops, museums, and other tourist sites being closed weren’t going to stop us going out, the weather certainly did!  It was tipping it down.  We actually ended up spending most of the day in our hotel, after checking out, as this evening we were catching the overnight train to Trondheim and didn’t want to spend all day carrying around our backpacks in the soaking rain.  May 2nd Travel Day After a not so bad night in the sleeper from Oslo to Trondheim we changed trains and headed off up to Bodø.   The weather forecast had been for cloudy and rain for all towns on the way north so what a pleasant surprise when for most of the time (well at least until we reached the ‘Arctic Circle’) we had sunshine and blue skies.  Even with iffy weather though the views and scenery on the way up would’ve still been spectacular!  On the journey there’s a real mix of mountains, lakes, and rivers, it’s just fantastic, ...
Read more

May 4th - Hurtigruten (Tromsø)

Image
  Although we haven’t been on-board for long we both feel like we’re getting into life on the high seas with ease!   In-between mealtimes there are lectures to attend, there seems like there’s going to be a least one major stop per day (2-4 hours enabling either excursions or a decent wander around town), and then there’s the viewing deck and part-time bar, which is a great spot for taking in the lovely views, in addition to possible other activities! 🍷😊 .   Todays major stop was Tromsø, Norway’s biggest city north of the Arctic Circle and with a population of about 75,000. We were looking forward to wandering around town for a while to catch the local sights.  However, within minutes of landing the clouds appeared and it started dumping snow on us.  Our walk quickly became a run and we took refuge in the local, rather appropriately named, ‘Polar Museum’.  Not the best museum we’ve ever been in, there were too many dioramas and not enough information in ...
Read more

Jun 9th - Avignon (DT to Arles)

Image
Our last day-trip of the week and this time to Arles, famous for its Roman ruins and its association with Van Gogh.   It was a positive start to our visit as walking along the Rhône River, and then through town, we got that ‘this is a nice place’ feeling as we headed off from the station to the tourist office.  Our first cab off the rank was a visit to the Cryptoportiques.  Built nearly 2000 years ago, these were the foundation cellars for the Roman Forum which was then built on top.  About 10 metres wide, and running several hundred metres in length, these parallel galleries are separated by pillars in a large U shape and are a fantastic example of well preserved ancient Roman architecture.   Moving on from the dark and damp cellars we took off to the Roman ‘Théâtre Antique’.  Built around 12 BC during the reign of Caesar Augustus, it originally held about 8-10,000 spectators.  Unfortunately though little of substance remains as the site was sadl...
Read more