It was another day trip day, this one to the north of Arles, after going south yesterday.
I left my Airbnb before 8am today, as it was quite a drive up to Orange. This commune is quite well known for its Roman architecture. What I hadn't realised is that there are markets on in Orange almost every day, so the place I had chosen to park was overrun with stalls! Wildly hitting the GPS while driving, I finally found another parking area near the historic Arc de triomphe d'Orange. It was a good thing I was early too, there weren't too many parking spots left!
I went out to have a look at the arch, which is somewhat outside of the town but one of the two impressive Roman structures in the town. It's now situated in the middle of a roundabout on quite a busy road, but it's no less impressive. This arch is thought to have been constructed between 27BC and 14AD, so it's pretty old by anyone's standard! It stands at 22m tall and 21m wide and has lots of carvings on it relating to the conquests of Augustus (the leader at the time), religious symbols and other historical carvings.
I walked through town to go to the other major Roman building. This was the theatre, and is one of the best-preserved Roman monuments in France. Unfortunately, as is always the case, it was undergoing a lot of restoration while I was there so there was a lot of scaffolding and hoarding everywhere.
Apparently the theatre, which is a huge round amphitheatre with seats going way up, has almost perfect acoustics, though at the time of my going there, all I could hear was banging and clanging. It can hold up to 10,000 people, but has lost most of its original seating and decoration and to me, looked like a mish-mash of old and new buildings. The ticket to get me into the theatre also allowed me access to the museum nearby that housed some of the decoration that used to be on the theatre, plus other artifacts found nearby.
After I left the museum, I had a wander through town. They were packing up the market so it was getting a bit quieter. It wasn't the usual French produce market but a market selling random bits and pieces, from clothing and shoes to batteries and cleaning supplies, so I wasn't that interested. I did, however, pick up a sandwich on the way back to the car and found a bench to sit down and eat before driving off.
My next stop for the day was the town of Uzès, about an hour drive away. This was a lovely place of stone buildings, walkable streets, interesting architecture and pretty little spots everywhere! I'd heard lots of good things about Uzès over the years and I'm here to say that it lived up to my expectations.
I left Uzès and got back to Arles just after 4, relaxing in my Airbnb for a bit before getting ready to go out for dinner. I went to a restaurant called Le Plaza-La Paillotte, where I had a traditional stew of the Camargue region called Gardiane de Taureau - bull stew. It was served with Camargue red rice, and was delicious! Mostly like a boeuf bourguignon, with olives and it also had some orange peel in it which lightened up the flavour. I went back to my accommodation for dessert - a raspberry tart - and tea, before heading back out again as the sky was looking lovely and the cooler night time temperatures were too good to resist. I took my camera with me and captured the photos below. Honestly, Arles is such a beautiful place!
