Frog’s Legs Anyone?

The Mas Saint-Antoine

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Today felt like a Roman holiday, minus the presence of Audrey Hepburn and our vans aren’t exactly convertibles.  Our morning drive took us to Arles, an ancient Roman city in the South of France (we’re inching our way closer to Paris).   Signs of Roman architecture abound: the arena, the ruins of a forum, the magnificent aquaduct, the layout of the city, the history.  We learned through our guides Corinne and Natascha (who are also our chauffeurs, our logistics handlers, our pharmacy trackers, our soul searchers, and the keepers of the itinerary, etc. etc. etc.) that much of the architecture is a result of the wars being over and there not being much to do.  The wars they survived, but its the gluttony that killed them in the end.  We’re going to have to watch for that.

Arles is by far as much about it being the land of Van Gogh.  Funnily enough, the landscape resembles a bit like home – wider streets, flatland prairie-like spaces – minus the Fortress walls and the pigeon towers.  We stood where he stood to paint Starry Night, the small yellow house that he shared with Gauguin (that unfortunately had been destroyed in the war), the gardens at Hotel Dieu – the hospital where he was sent after cutting off his ear.  He painted over 300 works of art in the span of 18 months in this area.  We managed one.  We had our lunch and painted at the restaurant that he depicted in his “Café la nuit” – a very satisfying dining and creative experience.  And we left Arles with our tummies full and our ears intact.

We capped off the day back at the Mas with a dip in the pool and a gourmet pizza night offered to us and other guests of the Mas by our hosts, Keryn and Kerrin.  Salmon, goat cheese, potato, this is what was on the pizza and it was delicious.  It was a lovely evening where we ate outside and were very reasonable as we were in bed by ten.  Well.  Almost all reasonable.  Celeste did hike out to the frog pond at some point to see if she could find her prince.  You can guess how that ended.  Yes.  A wet wristwatch.