Friday, January 15, 2010

The Ides of January










Memories of the South of France have been surfacing in my head. It's one of the most impressive areas I've ever spent time in. Above is an aerial shot of the Roman Arena in Arles -- part of an array of the durable and well-utilized Roman infrastructure.  Arles is a small city with a storied past having many layers, including Phoenician, Roman (settled in part by veterans of the Sixth "Ironclad" Legion), Gaulic, Visigothic, Saracen, Frankish and French.

Arles is a fine place to be.  Similar to Spain and Italy, but with a French twist. At the Arènes d'Arles, they still have bullfights.  Let's not forget the painters -- like Van Gogh -- associated with Arles, nor the Via Aurelia and the Alyscamps or Champs-Élysées/Elysian Fields outside of town. 

Today's Rune: Partnership.  

3 comments:

the walking man said...

Odd thing, how in all my travels I have never had the desire to travel off this continent.

Erik Donald France said...

You, Whitman and Kerouac. It's very different, yet very the same.

Distributorcap said...

i have been all over europe, except to the south of france -- obviously it is worth going to