Medieval

As promised, here’s Part 2 of my travelogue documenting my recent trek through Southern France. Home base: The Medieval walled city of Avignon, southern tip of the Côte du Rhône. Never mind for the present that I promised this post first thing Saturday and here it is Sunday night. As I always say, why do tomorrow what you can put off until the day after?

Our story takes up in Arles, where in 1888 either Gauguin or Van Gogh himself did the lacerating of the latter’s ear. But that wasn’t the only battle that took place in Arles. Back in Roman times, the town’s coliseum hosted a variety of blood sports, including gladiator matches and public dispositions of the criminal class. Alas, the only blood you’ll see there today is that of da bulls. As in Bull Fighting. Although I won’t speak to the morality of such “sport”--although I must say, one killing seems much the same as another to me, and any preference toward the sterile slaughter of steak cows strikes me as little more than bovine sexism--I like the idea that there’s at least a remote chance that the human Matador might take the fall. Meanwhile, here’s a stitched version of the inside of the Arles’ Coliseum, whose rocks have survived 2,000 years of wear.

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When both your manager and your producer tell you that you need a vacation, and on the very same day at that, there might be something to it. Which is why I got the hell out of town. Way out of town. All the way to the land of wine, cheese, and truffle oil, Southern France.

And what did I discover? Southern France rocks. I mean that quite literally. For all its fermented libations and aromatic vittles, the South of France is riddled with large stones assembled into great works of ancient architecture. Just take a look at the fantastic Pont du Gard, a three-tiered Roman aqueduct whose sole purpose was to transport of four foot-wide stream of water from the Fontaines d'Eure springs to what is now the city of Nîmes. Multi-ton stones cut to fit and stacked one on top of the other without the aid of steam, coal, or gasoline. Try doing that with Photoshop!

Pardon my French, but the Pont is one of the most powerful Works of Man you could hope to lay eyes on. I've wanted to see this damn thing my entire life and I did. I walked on it, I traced its waters, and I photographed it from every possible angle. If that's not real vacation satisfaction, what the f**k is?

(Click the image to see a high-res version. Keep reading for more. All images were captured with an Olympus E-30 SLR or Stylus 1030 instamatic.)

NOTE: I'll post Part 2 or this travelogue tomorrow. Then stay tuned for Monday, when I'll publish a Thanksgiving contest based on the images used throughout. Fully ten of you will win one free week of training at my esteemed video publisher lynda.com. And one of you will win a very special grand prize. You'll have to a dekeOnline member to participate. Keep an eye out for complete details! Read more »