We decided we could live happily in Villeneuve-Lez-Avignon. We have added Arles to this category.

We arrived very early, so early that many Moslem families were racing to the mosque for the end of Ramadan, we think. There is a very large Moslem population as a proportion, it is believed; France does not collect religious affiliation data. We wandered hoping to find something open on this brisk Sunday morning—coffee and croissant first thing have become our routine. We did, and then spent two hours wandering instead of the one hour we’d planned.

There are a few cool Roman vestiges, including an arena which, as in Nimes, is used for events, and what was called a theater but is now just bits and pieces in a pretty setting. Cool to see nonetheless. This is the town where Van Gogh spent a lot of time, and there are posters of his paintings in the places he painted. Not much has changed!

We walked and wandered, then it was back in the car for the drive to Nice. We knew we’d have to figure out the toll road situation and I was a bit apprehensive. Our recent trip to Chicago taught us that sometimes you have to have that darned transponder in the car to get through a toll gate. But here they took cash or card, and we sped along. Even though we were on the highways the drive is plenty picturesque and fast (130 km/hour in some places). We arrived early and met my aunt. We had a week in Nice staying with her in her spacious and beautiful apartment ahead.