France Day 2: Montpellier and Arles

Day two started out with breakfast in the car (croissants are portable but messy!), our first throwup incident (Spencer - caught it in a bag this time) and a drive through the Cathar region of southern France from Carcassonne through Narbonne to Montpellier for lunch. It's a fascinating area of hilltop fortresses and strange histories of Roman conquests, Catholic dissention and Spanish border wars. The very trees seem to grow in different, poetic shapes. We were happy to arrive at Montpellier, however, to get out of the car and get some lunch! Like many towns in s. France, Montpellier has its share of Roman ruins, like the aqueduct behind us. Then it has its beautiful Empire town squares and triumphal arches, and lovely windy pedestrian streets filled with boulangeries and chic stores. The rain that began in Carcassonne followed us here, but the kids were troopers. Except when Spence had to go to the bathroom and we had to go all over the city to finally find a (paying) WC. I love so many things about the USA, free toilets being one of them.There's usually a statue of either Napoleon or Louis XIV around somewhere in these cities.
Gary spent some of his happiest months of his mission here in Montpellier, and we were pleased to find that his favorite steak frites place was still up and running! Steak frites is a baguette split open, with hamburger patties, fries, ketchup and mayo all stuffed inside. Sophie and Spencer liked them too, so darn it, we had to buy another one! Get them while we can, I say!
Me filming the kids on the merry go round in the Place de l'Opera. Fit the bill for being both cheap and kid-friendly! And it was double decker, which we thought was pretty cool. Until we saw that almost every other town we visited had a similar carousel and the kids wanted to go on every one!

Our next stop that day was at ARLES. I love Arles! It's a small, fascinating Provencal town with historical dichotomies which naturally appeal to my love of art and history. A gem of a Roman Arena and amphitheater were the kids' delights, and the Van Gogh walking tour was mine - he painted many of his paintings there. A city walk leads you around to the exact spots on which he stood to paint the scene you see before you; here is Le Cafe Le Soir, below.
I can't get enough of these twisty, colorful, character-filled streets! Arles in in Provence, so all sorts of primary-colored textiles and pottery call cheerily to me from store fronts and curtained windows. I could have spent soooo much money there, but contented myself in just buying some postcards and taking a lot of pictures. We were just backpacking, after all. And I have promethean self control! ha ha
In one square of Arles, you can see Egyptian, Romanesque, neo-classical and Baroque architecture (and Sophie) in abundance. I love it.


The Roman forum and arena.

Of course, after the tour of all the cool "old rocks," we found an ice cream vendor and a playground which topped off the day perfectly. A good time was had by all!



And as we were driving out of town, we saw this. It was actually Gary who saw it and pointed out that this must be where the French vampires lived. Good one, Hubby!