Day 7- Arles

Monday, we spent the day touring Arles. Arles is a Roman City on the Rhone River. It contains ruins of an old Roman Theater. Above, Spencer and Katherine are standing in front of the two remaining columns that formed part of the theater.
I thought it was interesting that the columns were not made of one single piece of stone, but were formed from several pieces of stone. A joint can be seen about one third of the way up the column on the left.
This Roman Coliseum is still used for concerts and bull fights. The bull fights in France do not result in the death of the bull. Only on Easter do they actually kill the bull. During the middle ages, this coliseum contained over two hundred houses, and five churches. They were all removed when the coliseum was restored in the 1800's.
They are still in the process of restoring part of the coliseum. Here you can appreciate the contrast between the old and new parts.
This is the old portion of the coliseum. The floor between the two levels has fallen in.
Here is the restored portion, with the new stone floor.
This is a view of the narrow streets of Arles taken from the top of the coliseum. Notice the Rhone River in the background.
Whenever we drove from our hotel to the city, we passed this marriage and seduction shop. We never did go in. It was closed this Monday. Monday afternoon, we drove to a store on the outskirts of the city that sold items for home decoration. There we found all kinds of fabric that Provence is famous for. Katherine purchased several patterns to make curtains for the Utility Room, and to make chair cushions for the kitchen.
From Arles, we drove through Nice into Italy, arriving in the Cinque Terrre after midnight. Next: Cinque Terre.