Arles and "The Saga of the Dead Motherboard"

First up today is "The Saga of the Dead Motherboard."

On Sunday night, upon returning from my weekend in Nîmes and Arles, I added a blog post about my time in Nîmes only. I was tired and the amount of wonderous things I saw in these two excellent cities required that I break it up into at least two posts.

Thus, the Nîmes post was written on Sunday night to be followed up on Monday morning by another post just about Arles. For some unknown reason, I opted to back up my computer before retiring for the night, something that I definitely do not do often enough.

On Monday morning, my ever so faithful, almost five year old MacBook would not respond when I attempted to start it!

I quickly took it to the Apple store in Lyon where I was told that it would require a technician to look at it to determine what had happened. Fortunately, they had an opening for me at 11:40 a.m. on Tuesday with a young Englishman who worked as a techician in this very French store.

I returned on Tuesday morning and after careful, and I might add loving, inspection of my beloved laptop by said technician it was declared that my Motherboard was officially dead.

My two options were to have it fixed for about $750 USD or buy a new one for over $2,000 USD. I opted for a third option . . . lunch.

I boarded the Metro system deep in financial thought over what to do since I can not properly blog on my IPad or IPhone. The free lunch at Les 3 Brassieurs made me feel much better.

Upon returning to The Villa, I decided to do a foolish thing and try to boot up the dead Motherboard again. Only a fool would expect a different result from the previous attempts by both a rank amateur and a trained professional to revive her.

Welcome to October Fools Day!!!

She booted up and I am blogging while it lasts.

And they say that the Age of Miracles is over . . .

O.K. then, let's get back to last Saturday's trip from Nîmes to Arles.

What the fashion conscious men

of Nîmes are wearing on trains

Only a 20 minute ride from

Nîmes to Arles

Right up Ben Todd's alley

Just inside the old City Gates

Interesting, narrow rues beckoned

Colorful buildings

Quaint Shops

A sad face but why?

The Roman Arena in Arles

While interesting, I had spent so much time in the similar Roman Amphitéâter in Nîmes on Saturday that I saw no reason to pay to go inside this one. It is over 2,000 years old and is still in use to this day.

The Théâtre Antique

Built in the first century B.C., it once seated over 10,000 people. Much of the rubble from this structure was used to build the St. Trophime Church that I would visit later in the day.

Colorful Store

I like arches

Place de la République

The obelisk was the centerpiece of the former Arles' Roman Circus.

Spitting is O.K. in Arles

The city of Arles is nicknamed "The Gentle Lion." That is why our hero here has a lion atop his dome.

Main doors of St. Trophime Church

This is the church that used the rubble from the nearby Théâtre Antique for part of its construction during the 12th to the 15th century A.D.

Judgement Day

Jesus and the Four Evangelists

The four Gospel writers are symbolized here with Matthew being the winged man, Mark by the winged lion, Luke by the ox and John by the eagle.

Just thinking . . .

Is he giving us the finger?

One of many rich tapestries

in St. Trophime

Stunning but . . .

. . . scarred

The Relic Chapel

The Second Station of the Cross

"Jesus takes up His cross"

Smooth

A St. Trophime reminder that Arles

is on a Camino de Santiago Route

Dapper man on Place du Forum

This is a statue of Frédéric Mistral (1830-1914) who was a popular poet that wrote in the local dialect rather than French and was considered to be a champion of Provençal culture. 

Vincent Van Gogh Café

Van Gogh lived in Arles for two years beginning in 1888. He would paint many, many scenes from around this city that he wanted to make into an art colony for his contemporaries. For a short, stormy two month period Paul Gauguin even shared Van Gogh's lodgings in Arles.

It was in Arles that Van Gogh would famously cut off his own earlobe and give it to a local prostitute.

This café that today bears his name, was the inspiration of one of Van Gogh's more famous paintings from his time in Arles called "Café la Nuit."

Contreras view of "Café la Nuit"

Van Gogh's view of "Café la Nuit"

The Nord-Pinus was Pablo

Picasso's favorite hotel in Arles

Nice warm colors

Lonely waitress

Arles Lunch Bunch

Dining al Fresco

This place looks good . . .

Cuisine de Comptoir, sure, why not . . .

. . . it has won lots of awards

I decided to try it and ordered the brandada, not really knowing what it was. It was a very good tartine lunch which is a cross between a pizza and a bruschetta.

The wine was good too

"To Life and To Love"

The motto of all true French men and women I believe!

Fully sated, I continued my walk through Arles to the . . .

Arles Ancient History Museum

It was small by comparison to some other similar museums that I have visited in Europe, but it was direct and to the point. I liked it.

Greetings!

A Dermatologist's Dream Patient

Definitely Corintian

Oh, no . . .

Interesting Mosaic

Who doesn't love

a good boar hunt?

NOT REAL!!!

Laundry Day in Arles

Breakdown

Subtle Shutters

Not So Subtle Shutters

Happy to be living

in the 21st century

Nice Store Front

An Atelier is an Artisan

Maybe he is a graffiti artist.

Just missed it

Butcher Shop

Pasteries

Gorge Sensibly?

Great idea!

No Thanks

I really should try some

A Cuban exile visited Arles

Another subtle Camino de Santiago

reminder on a random church door

I'm Still Too Full

Art is Everywhere

Including many of Arles doors, just look . . .

Pink

Brown/Yellow

Violet

Blue

Green

Red

Gentle Lions on Guard

Arles is a very nice city that definitely merits a visit the next time that you are in France. I really enjoyed this town that is officially in Provence.

As for our Cadet and Junior practices on Monday, the players were very enthusiastic as usual but my problem communicating with them is causing growing frustration on my part.

First games for these two teams are only four weeks/seven practices away. 

I hope that my computer stays with the living a bit longer.