It's Camino time!! For our 5th Camino adventure, we took a train to Nimes, then a bus to Arles. As we walked to our AirBnB for the night, we were stunned at its location!
Our bedroom looked right onto the Amphitheater of Arles.
We had to walk by the Amphitheater to go anywhere in Arles.
Van Gogh spent a lot of time in Arles; this is where he had his "Little Yellow House" artists' collective. The city has put up paintings from the perspective of where he'd originally painted them. This painting was done from the steps of the Amphitheater.
Next to the Amphitheater, we saw our first Via Tolosana/ Camino Arles arrow!
One of my favorite spots in Provence; L'Espace Van Gogh, the peaceful cloisters of the hospital where Van Gogh went after he cut off his ear.
A lovely Provençal street in Arles.
The starting point for our Camino: The Cathedral of Arles.
Our passports are stamped in the Cathedral! He was happy to hear we were pilgrims. And weirdly we learned that the Provençal dialect sounds EXACTLY like Catalan!
Stamped and ready to go tomorrow morning!
But first, pastis in the town square. Because it's Provence!
The astonishing nighttime view from our bedroom.
The next morning, we bade goodbye to Arles & the Amphitheater, and set out on our 5th Camino.
The official start from the Cathedral.
Joneses are off on another Camino!!
We quickly found our first sign out of town.
We are on the Camino again! The Via Tolosana is 800kms from Arles to Toulouse, but we're only doing 95kms, to Montpellier.
As we left Arles, the landscape became much more pastoral, and the Camino signs more rustic.
We had expected to walk through cute French villages. But Day 1 was literally nothing for hours. We finally arrived in a sort-of town with nothing, except a small ranch with a Camino shell on a sign offering "Pelerin Pause" (pilgrim's rest).
The rancher's patio was a blissful oasis of shade, running water, and kindness. He stamped our passports and let us have a picnic.
Walking the Via Tolosana