Heading toward the second leg of our journey in the Philadelphia Airport -- Patte spotted our friend, Spence Robbins traveling in the other direction -- what a coincidence and a good omen. Spence is on the blog list so he knew we were on the road.
Finally after 3 flights and 1 train ride we arrived exhausted in Arles, France about 12:45 pm. Our hotel is a Mecure (European chain with varying degrees of luxury) -- in our case think Motel 6. It is clean, has a restaurant on site and we can walk to town which we do as soon as we've checked in.
Where to have lunch -- Anais at the hotel recommended a couple of places but then we spot the Irish Pub "Paddy Mullins". This appeared to be just we needed -- comfort food we could understand. This place was an Irish Pub in name and decor only. The meal filled the void and allowed us to move on to our ultimate goal of going to sleep later.
Time to explore this town of Arles -- the weather has turned cold and windy but we soldier on. Arles is a lovely town with Roman roots ---- the architecture is eclectic making it a joy to travel the medieval streets opening on to plazas of large and small.
After a rest we have a nice dinner in the hotel and turn in about 8:30 pm. We've had a good first day.
Tomorrow we board our riverboat and continue to explore Arles. Stay tuned to see what really happened to Vincent Van Gogh when he lived in this area.
Cheers Spence! It really is a small world. The photo of Dave and Patte on the shuttle bus is priceless. Phil and Patte look as if traveling is effortless. How is that possible after so many hours in transit? A grand adventure ahead. Can't wait to read more!
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