We began this morning in Avignon, and made a short trip over to the medieval town of Nimes. Nimes was an important Roman city over 2000 years ago - so important the Romans built one of their important coliseums there - just like the one in Rome.
Today it is known as the Nimes Ampitheater, and we spent the morning checking it out. We have been left speechless by the Renaissance architecture of the cathedrals, but the ampitheater, much like the Pont du Gard, goes back much much further than that! As we toured the ampitheater, we learned about how it has been a place of entertainment, a fortification, a small community, and served many other purposes over the millenia.
The citizens of the empire used to crowd into the ampitheater to see the gladiators and other entertainments. The arena was filled with sand to soak up all the blood that would collect from the bloody combat throughout the day, and the front row seats were reserved for the most important citizens and politicians. The upper areas (very high) were for the poorest citizens. That is just some of the interesting history we learned as we climbed all over the massive structure.
After we left Nimes, we went on to the heart of Provence, the city of Aix en Provence (or as the French call it, just Aix). The landscape and colors were even more vivid in this part of Provence, which is known for its lavender shutters. Aix was the home of the famous impressionist painter, Paul Cezanne. Other famous impressionist painters also called Provence and the south of France home, such as Matisse, Van Gogh, Claude Manet, and Degas. It is obvious from the colors in their paintings what their inspiration was - the colors of Provence and the south are beautiful! We wandered the narrow streets of Aix which are full of shops and cafes. Provence and the Riviera used to be a part of Italy until the end of the 1800's, when they became part of France. The Italian history and influence is strong in this region - and many people say it looks much like Italy. So, as a nod to Italy, we stopped at an Italian vendor's stand for lunch!
After some lunch and shopping in beautiful Aix, we headed south to our final destination - Nice! What a difference in such a short distance! The colors in Nice are so vivid - ochre and pink colored stones used in the buildings, and everywhere green shutters!
The Mediterranean Sea is a deep blue and the girls were so excited to see it I thought they would start jumping out of the windows of the bus! We checked into our hotel - which is an older but very traditional French hotel - lots of antiques, high ceilings, tall windows, and great little wrought iron terraces that look out over the street. Our tour guide, Alexandra, gave us a quick tour around what is known as "Old Nice" and then to the waterfront to give us the lay of the land. The next item of business for us was obvious - get our feet in the Mediterranean! We were surprised at the rocky beaches, but in love with the beautiful warm blue water.
It would have been nice to stay a little longer, but finally we had to return to the hotel - we had a Skype interview with the Fairbanks Daily News Miner so it was time to do some work.
Tomorrow will be very full, and sadly, our last day. So we are happy to be able to spend it in Nice!
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