Day 6 - Friday, June 22 - Arles

During the night, the "Mistral" wind from the north came up. These are very strong winds that come down from the mountains. While we were walking along the levee in Arles, at times we couldn't walk and almost weren't able to stand due to the wind. We later learned that there had been gusts over 50mph - fortunately there was no rain, just clear blue skies.

Our first stop was the Roman coliseum which dates back to the first century AD. At the time, it held 20,000 people. Originally, fights were held between captured soldiers who fought to the death. Later, a school was founded to train fighters who only had to fight until one was injured and couldn't continue - they did't want to lose the investment in training or run out of fighters! Today the coliseum is used for concerts and for bull fighting.

Arles Coliseum

Arles is one of the oldest Christian cities in France, with the city's bishopric beginning with Saint Trophimus in 225AD. The Romanesque Saint Trophimus church and  cloister dates back to the 12th century.

St. Trophimus church and cloister

Arles is probably most famous for Van Gough. Our last stop was the hospital where he stayed after his mental breakdown in 1888 and the garden that he painted while in the hospital.

Garden painted by Van Gough during hospital stay

On the way back from Arles, we passed large fields of sunflowers, like the ones painted by Van Gough. Unfortunately, we couldn't stop so the photos were a bit blurry. It was certainly impressive to see!

During dinner, the ship headed north, going through two locks before docking in Viviers.