Note the fully costumed reenactment happening behind us.
This morning we caught the 9:45 train to Arles and met Lana's uncle Laurent (who lives nearby) at the station. From there we went to the bustling market that covered two sides of town. There we saw many different facets of French culture like different salts (which Arles is known for) as well as various cheeses and lots of handmade clothes. After exploring the whole market we took a short lunch break and enjoyed the fresh food we bought. Olivia proceeded to have a bit of an allergic reaction to the cheese she bought and was scratching her face the whole day. She then went back to eat more cheese because it was so amazing! (*Note to parents: she is totally fine and will not be eating any more of that cheese.)
Posing at an overlook point after Olivia's cheese fiasco.
After lunch we travelled to the Roman Theater to translate poems by Catullus and social commentary by Juvenal. Then we met up with a tour guide from Arles who took us to the Alyscamps, a former Roman cemetery where a painting by Vincent van Gogh was inspired. Then we went to a Roman Arena where people were reenacting gladiator fights (no blood was spilled on that day). Then we went to Crypts underneath the forum. We saw the sight at which Van Gogh painted Café Terrace at Night. Suddenly we had an ice cream urge and had to stop by for ice cream. Unfortunately this caused us to miss our train but then we played "Heads Up" waiting for the next train. In total we walked 16,000 steps!
Written by Chloe, Sofie, Olivia, Charlotte, & Thomas