This time last year: Provence

At this time last year, we were in Provence. I have always wanted to go to Provence. I have read every book ever written by Peter Mayle: A Year in Provence, Encore Provence, Toujours Provence... all his fiction books, like Hotel Pastis and Anything Considered... According to Peter Mayle, Provence is the land of milk and honey, and I wanted to go. I feel like a heretic, therefore, to report back to you that we didn't find it all that exciting.

Yes, the landscapes were beautiful, the weather wonderful, the quality of the light and food amazing. But... the very thing that draws people there, the laid-backness of it all, drove us nuts. We are not laid back people. We need to be on the go and doing things. And while there's lots to see in Provence, there's not as much to do. I think Provence would have better been saved for a vacation as a retiree, when you're looking for R&R, rather than at this point in our lives when we want to do it all.

Anyway, there were some highlights. A large part of the reason why I wanted to visit in the first place was to see the Pont du Gard, a two thousand year old Roman aqueduct. We were not disappointed - it was really magnificent (top photo). There are also all kinds of Roman amphitheatres and coliseums scattered throughout the south of France. We went to a bullfight at the one in Arles. This was particularly cool after seeing Gladiator, though we made sure it was not the fight-to-the-death type bullfight before buying tickets - I don't think I could have watched that:

And speaking of Arles, that's where Van Gogh lived for many years, so it was pretty cool to be there and see the inspiration behind a large number of his canvases. This is the actual cafe that is pictured in Terrasse de Cafe la Nuit:

And, to its credit, I don't remember having any morning sickness in Provence whatsoever. Maybe all that fresh air and wholesomeness did it.