Last Saturday we went to Arles in Provence. It's a lovely town on the northern tip of the Camargue, lying alongside the River Grand Rhone. It's ascent to prosperity began in 49BC under Julius Caesar, when it became a major port and Roman provincial centre. As a result it has a stunning Roman amphitheatre, theatre and necropolis as well as several Roman churches and other buildings. We went to discover the starting point of La Via Tolosana, one of the pilgrim routes of the St Jacques de Compostelle, which ends 1654 kms away in Santiago, Spain. As we are looking to put self-guided linear walking and cycling trips on Mountains and Maps 2012 programme we wanted to investigate the start of the route. We're not expecting people to do the whole distance! Just the most interesting part from Arles into, and across, Languedoc-Roussillon and onto Toulouse.
We followed the route through the town, then naturally needed to stop for lunch or we'd miss out (it was getting close to 2pm). The lively cafe we stopped at was down to its last plat de jour (an unusual poulet et gambas dish), so we had that along with the classic Salade au Chevre Chaud, a failsafe and delicious option.
Arles has a fantastic Saturday market, with wonderful Provencal food, wine and general kitchen wares. It is also known for being the subject of renowned resident, Vincent Van Gogh, who spent some time living in Arles capturing many of the street and cafe scenes. Being close to the Camargue it's also famous for its bullfights and cowboys. Not that we saw either in evidence in October. That's a trip for another day.
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