Wednesday 8th July - another hot day - 37 degrees. You would think we were getting used to it by now, but alas, no.
We started the day finishing off the few sites we hadn't seen already using our Passeport Avantage carte. First on the agenda was the Cloitre Saint Trophime which were built in the 12th and the 14th centuries. It had two galleries that were Romanesque and two which were Gothic. Very impressive and, even more so, was the painstaking renovation taking place whereby the cloisters were being cleaned by hand. The transformation from the dark grey to a much lighter sandy colour was amazing.
From right up high in the cloisters, we then ventured deep down underground to the Cryptoportico of the Forum, an incredible subterranean city which was built in 46 BC, wow - that is old. 2056 years ago and it is simply incredible. To be walking within Roman Architecture built before Christ was very special.
We had a bite of lunch (just baguettes today) and visited the Espace Van Gogh which was the former Arles hospital in which Van Gogh was a patient. He painted there too, and we took some photos. There was a really nice flower garden in the centre of outdoor square avec fountain in the middle.
We also found the spot on the Rhone River where Van Gogh painted Starry Night Over The Rhone. Not really much at all there. We thought tres bland, but Vincent saw things we didn't!
Then ventured back to the hotel for a bit as it was HOT. Rod had a nanna-nap and Kym did some washing. After that we went off for a final walk through the town and had some dinner.
Very mild night, so ended up back in the hotel pool around 9pm. Tomorrow we head to the lavender capital of the world - Aix-en-Provence. Bags packed again and we are ready to roll.
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