Sunday, May 18, 2008

Goodbye Basque, Hello Provence

We seem to be destined to experience springtime Europe in the rain.

We left Lourdes about 10 this morning and got into Arles about 3. It was dreary when we left, but I think that is pretty typical of the Pyrenees area in the morning. It warmed up as we drove towards the Provence Region, and was nice and warm and sunny when we arrived in Arles. We checked into our hotel, and then set off on foot to the town center.

It is about a 15-minute walk into Arles from our hotel, but the walk is pleasant. We window shopped a bit and took a quick look-see at some of the historical sights. We will spend more time tomorrow doing an historical tour. Then we stopped at Café Le Nuit, which is the café that Vincent van Gogh painted in his painting entitled Café at Night. We ordered a couple of glasses of wine, and telephoned my son and daughter-in-law, because that particular van Gogh painting is one of her favorites. She was appropriately envious to know that we were sitting in that café enjoying some wine.

We also telephoned our daughter-in-law who just gave birth to our newest granddaughter, and she said everyone was fine. Our 21-month-old granddaughter (the new baby’s sister) is apparently not thrilled with the new addition to the family, particularly since Mom can’t pick her up since Baby Sister was born by C-Section. There is nothing quite as anticlimactic as being the third-born in a family of four children.

Back to the rain. When we got finished with our wine, we decided to go ahead and have dinner at that same cafe. We enjoyed our meal, and when we stepped outside around 8 o’clock, it was raining. We walked home in a nice gentle shower (unlike the downpour we experienced in Barcelona).

Tomorrow we need to track down a laundry as we are both running out of clothes!

No comments: