In Nimes, we saw one of the best sights of our trip. A coliseum (I have written before about standing at the top and looking down at an espresso cafe). One of the best preserved and in far better shape than the coliseum in Rome, so they say. Walking around this coliseum to get to the entrance, I could just imagine crowds people, milling about, buying popcorn (or the popcorn of those days), slurpees but probably red wine and gossipping about the up coming show. Seating at least 20,000 or slightly bigger than the typical NHL arena, the crowds were pretty good. And of course in those days, there wasn’t security or at least the type that gives you a pat down or checking into your bag. Nope, the crowds were just as unruly though especially after a couple of glasses of vino in the hot sun.

Flickr : arena, coloseum, fence, pillars, wings

The Picturetaker in Europe

Now this castle was a ‘lived in’ castle. For a certain number of months each year, the count and the countess used this castle as their home (one of many I assume). This particular room was a no go room. We could only stand in the doorway, behind the veloured rope barrier (single stand as it was) and look. Now, I have never been partial to these type of couch or settee. They are not ones that you can get a good slouch going at all. And the coffee table. If a baby tried to cut their teeth on those, they would collapse. No floor hockey or a quick game of soccer in here (although it was certainly big enough). Nope, this was strictly for impressing and entertaining with the pinky finger held in the air. And dustless, I am sure there wasn’t a speck of dust anywhere in the whole castle – definitely the benefit of not having central heating.

Flickr : castle, couch, museum, settee, table

So we were in a little village called Uze in southern France, Provence about 45 minutes south of Orange. We went there because there was a real castle. Now in the south of France, there were not many castles. In the north of France, there were castles everywhere, we had our pick of what we wanted to see and of course we didn’t. Now we wanted to see a castle so off we went on a little jaunt on our way back from Nimes. We arrived just in time for an espresso before walking into the castle – it was closed, open again in 1 hour. The one hour extended to two hours so we walked and walked some more along narrow streets, back alleys. There really wasn’t that much to see in Uze. Finally it was time, we eagerly lined up outside the gate – all 10 of us. Oops the only thing open right now is the turret as the tour of ‘the castle’ would not take place for another 45 minutes. So off and up we went. The stairs, all 212 of them were circular, narrow on one end and even narrower on the other. Going up was okay and the view was pretty good being a nice day and all. But coming down, oh my oh my. By the time we hit the bottom, our legs were jello, not a bone left in them and no place to sit down. The photo was taken during the inside tour but that story will have to wait until tomorrow.

Flickr : France, Provence, Uze, castle, museum

It was a long, long day in Florence. Wet and wet again, down the neck, up the arms and into the eyes. The shoes were Gortex thank heavens, my feet were only wet from sweat! We had seen ‘David’, the churches and the amazingly resplendant churches. So what to do next – the Uffizi Gallery of course, one of the greatest museums in Europe, housing masterpieces by Giotto, da Vinci, Botticelli, Michelangelo, Raphael. The list was endless – just like the line up!! Out the door, around the courtyard, down the street, over the bridge, crossing the river. As we stood there, trying to decide what to do next, we noticed around the courtyard lifesize statues of some of the Medicis. Then he moved?? Then he moved again. Its colouring, robes, hat blended in with every other statue in the courtyard. Certainly worth a few Euros in the hat.

Flickr : Florence, Italy, man, museum, sculpture, statue

This is a self portrait of Rembrandt. I had envisaged an older man, with a wispy beard, greying hair, and more than a few wrinkles. This painting is of a somewhat dapper, perhaps middle aged man, not quite full of the wisdom of the years. But a very talented man maybe a little full of himself. I am sure those would not be his painting clothes so they were probably on a body double and he just dropped his portrait on the body. Actually, I don’t know if that is true, but it really could be.

Flickr : France, Louvre, Paris, Rembrandt, circle, museum, painting

Yeah, yeah! I know it is famous, I know it was done by a famous painter. inventor, renaisance man – oh wait, he was a renaisaince man! But really, as far as size goes, my monitor is bigger than the Mona Lisa. And the people. All those people, crowding up against a barrier some 20 feet away for the painting which seem to be behind 3 inches of glass or plastic. Not the best viewing circumstances. But there is something about saying “I saw the Mona Lisa!” up close and personal.

Flickr : France, Louvre, Mona Lisa, Paris, museum

This is a shot of the Louvre taken from the top of the Eiffel Tower. It was probably 3 kilometres away which says something about the telephoto lens I was using. Each of the three sides was at least a soccer field and a half in length. And rooms. Halls and rooms and courtyards with a tremendous array of paintings, murals, statues, sculptures, frescoes, busts and more. Would take days to see it all and we only spent about three hours. We saw most of the top ten things to see before we ran out of steam. We stopped for a small snack and coffee at the Louvre coffee bar. Let me tell you about the price – maybe not. The espresso was wonderful again and the service was abysmal.

Flickr : France, Louvre, boat, building, museum, pyramid

And not only were people legless and armless. This lion was legless as well. From the same era as the legless man from a few posts ago. You can tell by the similiar styles. This lion was pretty big, about as big as a smallish real lion. This one was also in one of the many many halls of the Louvre. Tomorrow I will post a photo of the Louvre. It really is massive (seems to be one of my favorite words in this blog). Anyway back to the lion. Although somewhat stylized, it would not be hard to imagine this lion prowling a coliseum, looking for its next meal. The lions were starved prior to their entrance into the arena, all the more ready to pounce on the poor helpless men and women. The sport was in the running and the chase and also for the blood. Somethings never change

After a long hard day, walking among the ruins, the museums, the churches, the wide boulevards and narrow streets, we would come back home. To our one room abode. And this would be our view from our hotel in Orange in southern France. The sunlight was soft, the houses dappled with shade, the mountains clear and the air crisp (still in March you know). We would collapse on our beds, not ready for bed but not ready to move our legs for dinner downstairs. Speaking of dinner, in this hotel dining room we would keep our table from day to day. The staff would remember us and almost unbidden would bring Lorna her wine of choice from the night before. The meals were not particularly memorable, but the experience certainly was!

Flickr : France, Provence, homes, houses, mountains, sunlight