Viking River cruise 2014 - Day Five

The new Viking vessels on the European rivers have an open fore-deck, an extension of the lounge, called the Aquavit Terrace.  There we enjoyed a light breakfast.  Shortly after breakfast was held the safety drill where all passengers were to grab their life jackets from their rooms and assemble at a designated location on the sun deck.  Then it was time to board buses to Arles.

Arles was founded by Celts but enlarged by the Romans in the first century.  It was situated on the confluence of several trading routes, especially as a mid-point between the regions of present-day Spain and Italy.  In its heyday the Romans built a 20,000 seat stadium (a scaled-down version of Rome's Colosseum), a theater and a forum, among other public facilities.

We visited the stadium, remarkably intact despite the years and vandalism, which is presently the site of bullfights (unique in France, borrowed from the Spanish) and "bull games" (a modern invention wherein the bull is not killed, and the bullfighters seek to capture ribbons and other adornments woven on the bull's horns. If the bull wins, the owner gets money; if the bullfighter wins, he gets paid.)

Also included in the walking tour was the ruins of the Roman theater, the local cathedral and the hospital in which Vincent Van Gogh was cared for after he cut off his ear lobe.  Van Gogh had lived for several years in Arles and painted many of the local scenes.

After lunch, Jan and I went back in to Arles, hired a taxi and went to the Museum of Antiquities.  It was there that the Roman era boat, a primitive version of a freighter, had been discovered and raised from the bottom of the Rhone River.  The sediment of the river had preserved the boat and it was in amazing condition.  It had been featured in a recent edition of the National Geographic magazine and we wanted to see it.  The rest of the museum was focused on the history of the city going back even earlier than Roman times, and it was worth it.

Tomorrow we do a walking tour of Avignon, one highlight of which is a tour of the palace used by the French popes -- sort of the French Rome of the time.  It's going to be hot, but that surely beats rain.

Viking River cruise 2014 - Day Four

Today's blog entry will be short.  The better part of the day was spent in transit from Cannes to Avignon to connect with the ship.  We are now safely ensconced in the Viking Hermond, one of the new fleet of Viking longships.  After checking in, unpacking and freshening up, we joined the other passengers in a welcome and information session, followed by dinner.

The trip from the Mediterranean to the Rhone Valley in the Provence section of France was one of definite changes in scenery and climate.  We went from lowlands to pre-Alps, with increasing numbers of vineyards and farms as we got closer to Avignon.  The area is hotter and drier than the coast, and the farms depend on irrigation to sustain the crops.

Tomorrow we visit Arles where we will see the ruins of a Roman amphitheater and (if the museum is open) the Roman barge recently unearthed, the story of which was in a recent issue of National Geographic.  Photos tomorrow.