Robbie the Robot!

Wednesday 11th October 2017 - Arles.

Not much to report today.

A late morning trip into Arles to visit the market.  As we go in and out of the town we pass the same building under construction .......

When we first saw it we thought it might be being demolished but we are sure that it is actually under construction!  I think an architect is trying to make a name for him or herself.  It certainly is not in keeping with the town of Arles.  It may be a giant 'Robbie the Robot'?

The day actually became cloudy from this point.  We weren't over impressed by the market, it wasn't in the town centre but around the road outside the ramparts.  We bought pate and tapenade vert.  We used the Tourist Info wifi to send blogs and check emails then back to the van for lunch.

We just peeked into the Van Gogh Foundation museum but we had never heard of the other artists and they don't have much by Van Gogh, certainly not the famous paintings.  We mused that for a man with mental health problems who committed suicide his paintings were surprisingly bright and positive!

We had an afternoon doing bits and pieces and reading books.  We planned our next steps.  We are meeting my son John in a weeks time.  He flys into Toulouse to join us for four nights, so we are moving west tomorrow.  I can't tell you where because whatever I have planned could change while we move.

My daughter Rebekah flew into France yesterday for a week visiting my brother on the Vendee and then friends, Sian and Ger near Rouen.  She had her flight cancelled from Manchester to Nantes due to French strike action and had to fly via Amsterdam.  At least she got there.

One issue that I've not mentioned before is alcohol consumption.  It's a bit of a struggle to avoid drinking wine in France every day.  We are trying to keep alcohol free days, today is one of those days.  In fact we have less than half a bottle of red wine in the van.  'Half a bottle of wine', I hear you say incredulously.  I know, I have not previously known of a bottle of wine that was not finished in one sitting either.  I thought it was the law in France that a bottle must be finished and you know what a stickler I am to be law-abiding citizen.  We are going to try a different tactic and open a box of wine in the vain hope that we might not always drink a bottle (in quantity) and we might be content with one or two glasses a night.....who are we kidding.....as long as we don't automatically try and finish the box in a night!