Day 8 Provence Partie Deux - St. Remy, Les Baux, Nimes

Today we started our second day in the Provence region in St. Remy. First stop was the Glanum an ancient Roman structure of an arch and tower about 1900 years old.  The structures are pretty much intact still standing strong all these centuries.

A short walk from the Glanum lead us to the St. Paul Monastery and aslyum.  It is here were Vincent Van Gough spent a year in 1889 seeking treatment for his madness. During this time Van Gough produced more than a 100 paintings,  many of them famous today.  We walked the path were Van Gough sat in the fields to paint olive groves, fields of flowers, peasants and field workers, and that ever famous Starry Night.

We timed our visit perfectly as the lavender in the monastery garden was in full bloom as was other flowers in the beautiful garden.

Next stop was Les Beaux to visit the 14th century castle ruin carved into and on top of a rock 650 feet above the valley floor.  Much of the ancient walls of the castle remain.  The views from the castle were spectactular!  After walking around the castle ruins, we walked around the town for lunch and shopping.



Our last stop of the day was Nimes where we saw more Roman structures.  The first structure was the La Maison Curree built in the first century.

We continued our walk to the Roman Arena where nesrly 2000 years ago, gladiators fought wild animals many imported from Africa, to entertain spectators. Today the arena is used for bull fights and concerts.  In the upper deck of the arena rows of stone bleachers extend up to the top.

After our visit to the Arena we had free time before dinner.  Many of us went to seek shelter from from the late afternoon thunder shower.


Tomorrow we pack up and move on to Carcassonne. We are now at the half-way point of our adventure.