The Romans Are Coming

No just kidding, the Romans have already been here. Yup thats right, today I went to see some Roman ruins. It was amazing!!! I mean these things have been around since like 100 A.D.! of course now its mostly piles of rubble and rock and some standing columns, but you can just image what it looked like when it was prospering. The city (?? ) of Glanum was located on the old Roman road it was like a stopping point for rest and relaxation. Today it was blooming with big pink trees (yes pink ones!!! I loved it!!!) mostly in pieces. But you can still make out the bath house and pool from the Monumental section of the city. There is also some pretty impressive standing columns in the Residence district. And in the Sanctuary area that is a temple to Hercules, (did I mention it belonged to the Greeks before the Romans build on top of it??) and a spring right next to it dedicated to the local water god, which name eludes me right now. All in all a very impressive site, and it was just amazing to think of this place as still being around. I mean no mortar between the stones and yet beautiful carved columns and symmetrical temples...I can only image. So much character in such a peaceful place.

We also went to St. Remy, specifically to the metal institution that housed Van Gogh in his later years. The interesting thing about this place is that it is still running today. Obviously we didn't get to go into the working ward, but the kept the room Van Gogh stayed in. And all of his paintings that he is famous for, he painted while at the asylum. It was interesting because on the grounds they have this trail of paintings. At intervals along the trail there would be a plaque with on of Van Gogh's paintings, and when you looked up, you were in the exact spot that he was in when he painted it!! It was really neat, I stood on the hill where he painted his famous painting, Starry Night. I also got to see the violets that he painted along with some of the olive trees. St. Remy was very interesting because they left the ward as Van Gogh would have experienced it. It is eerie to think I traveled the same paths he did, saw the same things and climbed the same stairs! LOL

After that it was another windy day in Lacoste. I didn't do a whole lot, just updated the sketchbook at little and tried to work on my research paper. Right now I am also trying to get a trip together to go to Barcelona. But its being a bit more difficult since we have to change countries. And I found out (though I already knew this, just didn't really think about it) that in Barcelona they do not speak Spanish, they speak Catalan, a dialect of Spanish. :) Random trivia for you! Well I am going to sign off now. Tomorrow is a campus wide field trip to Nimes, and we have to be up EARLY! Let you know how it goes. Bonne nuit!