el-granada.com - The Ketchums in France - Friday July 13, 2007 Day 17

France 2007

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Thursday July 12,2007
Day 16 - Arles

Friday July 13, 2007
Day 17 - Arles

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Saturday July 14, 2007
Day 18 - Arles

Friday morning I rose early for a solo road trip. After talking to photographer Ron Lake in Beynac I was determined to take pictures of lavender fields, and to see lots of stuff that the rest of the family had little to no interest in. By 8:15 I was on the road.

First I had to take a picture of sunflowers - a few miles north of Arles
They all faced east
Sunflowers and grapes were the two primary crops we saw in Provence

I had originally planned to drive up Mont Ventoux from the west, traverse to Sault, then return the same way. In Carpentras I saw a sign for Sault, and realized how foolish plan A was, and simply drove directly to Sault, reaching it and all its lavender fields by about 10am.

Lavender in the valley
Sault in the distance, on the way in to Sault on route D1

Click here for a panoramic picture of the above

Lavender in Sault

Looking northwest towards the foothills of Mont Ventoux

Lavender in Sault

Sault in the background
Leaving Sault on route D 164

I saw a few convertibles, and wished I had mine with me for the day. As I drove west up Mont Ventoux I saw hundreds of cyclists. Eventually I realized how incredibly difficult it would be to bicycle up nearly 6000’ of elevation. Many cyclists seemed to be part of a group with a van for support – I don’t think I’d try a trip that hard without support. While I didn't know it at the time, Mont Ventoux is a part of the Tour de France many years, and is quite famous among cyclists.

La Chalet Reynard, on D 164 on the way up Mont Ventoux

Mont Ventoux

Eventually we cleared the tree line – the top of Mont Ventoux has very light colored rocks, making it appear from a distance that it is snow covered even in the summer. The temperature was perhaps in the low 50s, and the wind was blowing a little, but it wasn’t too cold. The view to the south was fairly hazy because the wind was relatively light, but the views to the north and east were clear, and I could see the Alps to the northeast. I bought a few souvenirs, bought some candy for lunch :), took a few pictures, and headed down the other side of the mountain to wine country. The other side of the mountain was much steeper, with far fewer cyclists, and not quite as picturesque. Eventually I reached the main road at Malaucene, then kept heading east onto the Cotes du Rhone driving tour.

Suzette, with the Dentelles de Montmirail in the background

Vineyards in Suzette, with Mont Ventoux in the background

Click here for a panoramic picture of the Dentelles de Montmirail

The view of the Dentelles (‘Teeth’) de Montmirail from the pass approaching Suzette was nice, and kept getting better until I reached Lafare, where the views ‘peaked’ – by the time I reached Beaumes-de-Venise there was nothing to see. I continued the circular route north – Gigondas was nothing special, but Seguret was clearly pretty, though not necessarily very stunning under the mid-afternoon sun. I then continued on to Vaison La Romaine, found parking, found the Roman ruins, and toured the ruins, the museum, and Theater. Vaison La Romaine was a properous Roman town 2000 years ago, and today is the best archeological site in France. The ruins were of a several blocks of the ancient Roman town, and the museum had plenty of interesting artifacts, a nice mosaic, and a few surprisingly good statues.

Vaison La Romaine

Tiberius in Vaison La Romaine

Tiberius


Mosiac The 'dirty' parts were repaired in antiquity, but they only used 3 colors of tile to do the repair, so it looks wrong	Same mosaic, different angle

The Theater was setting up for a performance - they were raising the lights, along with a few hundred chimes or tubular bells, as I arrived. I headed back Seguret to take a few pictures, as the light was more favorable, then headed to Orange.

Seguret

I managed to drive all around Orange before finding parking, but eventually found parking and the huge Théâtre Antique d'Orange. It was perhaps the best Roman artifact I’d seen in France to date. They had recently finished installing a roof over the stage to protect it – they had removed tons of debris by hand a few years ago, and three large stone had fallen from the structure in the past few years due to erosion. They also appeared to be setting up the stage for a performance. The Théâtre was immense – far too big for a single picture from up close.

Théâtre Antique d'Orange

Click here for a panoramic picture of the above

After a while I left, spent a few minutes in the museum across the street, then drove to the Arch on the north end of the town. I then headed back to Arles, reaching it around 6:15pm. The family had slept in, done laundry, gone to McDonalds for lunch, and were ready for dinner. We went to La Brasserie 2G on the south end of the Arena, and the food and service were quite good.

Hercules

Centaur

Arch on the north end of Orange

Prev
Thursday July 12,2007
Day 16 - Arles

Friday July 13, 2007
Day 17 - Arles

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Saturday July 14, 2007
Day 18 - Arles