Arles, France

Our ship was docked at Arles in the river of Rhone, waiting for us to board.  From the ship, one can see the familiar sycamore (actually a cousin of sycamore) trees found in Van Gogh's paintings.  A bridge remain behind the ship in the distance was a result of alien's bombing in WW War II.

One would simply say that the color of Arles is so Vicent Van Goghish.  The artist lived in Arles in 1888-89, and painted 300 paintings and drawing during his stay.  (25% of his total paintings).  He also lost his left ear here and stayed in a hospital, where he painted another famous painting of his.

 

Van Gough's painting of "Cafe Terrace at Night" looked as below:

Arles was designated as an Unesco World Heritage Site in 1981.  Ruins from the Roman empire could be found in many places.

We took a walk tour started from the Place de la Republique, which is the main square of Arles. The 20 meter tall obelisk (made of red granite from Asia minor) in the center of the square was originally erected in the 4th century by Constantine II.  The fountain was designed later in the 19th century.

The front of the Abbey (located to the right of the above picture) showed detailed carvings concerning salvation, disciples, believers go to heaven and disbelievers go to hell with feet on fire.

The young Ameiricans who lost their lives to defend liberty

We visited the American army cemetery in the town of Draguignan, en route from Nice to Arles.  Many American soldiers died on the D-Day of Southern France.  The Southern France landing was intended to provide supplies to General Patton on the North.  Many tome stones remain nameless.  The group stood silently to pay respect to those brave soldiers, and listened intensively to the a piece of the history.

The war map, showed landing on the east side (higher hills) of Southern France. (The western side, although with lower hills,  was too swampy).  The supply were transported through the valley in the middle.

A beautiful mosaic was hang in the chapel.  One side showed grieved parents bending in front of marbled cross and cross of star of David (Jewish soldiers), the other side showed Henry the IV of France who led the crusaders.  The link was based on Eisenhower's statement that US's involvement in WW II was a crusade.

Conversation A Nice

The airport of Nice is right by the Mediterranean Sea.  The landing of our plane reminded me of the old Chi Der airport of Hong Kong.  We were greeted by palm trees standing tall against the blue sky.  I felt happy instantly!

When our Program Director led us on a before dinner walk, I was so intrigued by the statues standing high on the Massena Square. We learned from Jamil (our Program Director) that they were designed by a Spanish artist, and were made of plexiglass. They illuminate every night with colors changing smoothly to emulated a dialog between them. It's really beautiful and poetic!

An old fashioned statute water fountain also sit at the Massena Square, with the God looking toward the Mediterranean Sea.

 

The sun set on the Mediterranean Sea.

The flower market in Nice is quite cheerful with lots of locals and tourists.

 

Joan and I hiked up the hill so that we could have a panoramic view of Nice.  On top of the hill we also visited a cemetery.  I suppose one has to be rich to be buried high to see the coast.

Bicycle is popular in Nice.  We saw policeman and women, as well as postman using bike to conduct business.  Below is a picture of the postman's bike.

 

An accidental delight

I did not plan to go to France this year.  GCT had a last minute deal sounded very good.  Joan just left her job and needed some distraction.  So she and I decided to go on this "Cruising Burgundy & Provence to the Cote D'Azur" at the last minute.  Then Superstorm Sandy hit, and we had no idea if we could fly at all.  But we did, on Oct 31, 2012.  Out of the 38 passengers for the cruise, 10 did not make it due to the superstorm.  Unexpected at all, I had the most delightful 12 days from Nov 1- 12 in France.

A fellow traveler, Lucy who is 84, took some pictures of me and captured how happy I felt on this trip.  And I found her very inspiring.  She is active and sharp, very good with her camera and her I pad!

Our teip started in Nice, then we boarded the ship at Arles, we made stoprs at Avignon, Viviers, Tournon, Lyon, Macon, Beaune, and finally we spent 2 days in Paris.  I will say more about each stop later.

Wind beneath my wings

Bette Midler has sung this song and moved millions of listeners.  We  know our loved ones have provided so much support for us.  Without them, we could not have experienced life nearly as much.  HaePyng, KC, Paul, etc. are all dear friends to Sylvia.  Hae Pyng and I drove Sylvia to Atlantic City for an outing.  We visited Jersey shores, Cape May, and the Princeton University.  We had a good time, and Sylvia was a good sport even though she was under some pain, and did not sleep too well on a couple of nights.

I saw a butterfly with its wings broken, and it was limping and tumbling on the boardwalk.  I picked it up and placed it on the side of the boardwalk under a tree, so that it would not be stepped on by the foot traffic on the board walk. A cancer patient is like a beautiful butterfly with broken wings.  The wind beneath its wing can no longer help it fly.  What a difficult path the patient has to walk alone.  One can only pray for less pain, more comfort, and more peace of mind.  I just wish that Sylvia can walk the path bravely and without feeling loneliness.

 

Margaret's Office

Margaret works at DC, and  I have never visited her office.  As a retiree, I just decided to go to DC on a weekday, to PLAY.  I was thrilled to find out Margaret's office is just around the cor nor, when I called her cold at noon, hoping she can come out to have lunch with me.   I think she was amused by the silly grin I had all over my face.  Her office is quite nice, and we had a delightful lunch at a Spanish cafe where we sat outside.

On margaret's recommendation, I went to visit the newly rennovated  Natural and History Museum after lunch.  It was very nicely done with the new exhibits.  Lucky me!  I was also able to enter the butterfly exhibit for free, because it's Tuesday.  A friendly butterfly landed on my head,  and a friendly stranger borrowed my camera and took a picture for me.  A very happy day indeed!

Bernice's Visit

Bernice came to visit in September, and we went to DC together.  She got to see all the out door monuments she wanted to see on this visit.  But we both suffered under the extreme heat. Next time we should do it in October.  I guess she had a reasonable time, and our friendship may continue.  Sometimes I felt a bit strange with friendship developed over a chance meeting on a tour.

At the Hirshhorn Museum Plaza, we discovered the Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads made by this Chinese artist Al Weiwei.  It's interesting that Hae Pyng and I found the same sculptures on the campus of the Princeton University.

What's more delightful was that I found another sculpture made by a Spanish named Juan Munoz!