Friday, July 5, 2013

Feeling Dwarfed

There are so many towering churches and monuments in France that one often feels very small in comparison.  One day we visited Saint-Chapelle in Paris.  The windows in the nave are 50 feet tall, enough to make anyone feel small.  But, one evening on a stroll after dinner, we came upon a strange sight in a courtyard off a busy street.  Was this intended as a work of art depicting a certain era?
I felt like I'd been shrunk!

Fifty feet high windows!

Feeling small by something tall.

Looking upward at the exterior of Saint-Chapelle's windows.

Thursday, July 4, 2013

Roman Ruins

Before we went to France, I read a book about a historical and chronological tour through the country.  The author began with the Greeks founding of the city of Marseilles.  When she got to the part about the Romans settlements in Provence, I began to pay sharp attention because I had read of a Roman  ruin called Glanum  that was a short stroll from  our "mas".   Imagine my thrill when, on our first evening in St. Remy, Martin and Willie and I followed that path after dinner and explored the Triumphal Arch and Mausoleum.  These two monuments have always stood out, while the rest of the town of Glanum lay buried for centuries.   We visited the excavation site and the museum later in our stay.
The Mausoleum at sunset

Willie & I at the Triumphal Arch

View from the hill; that's Ag seated on the wall by the road.

Looking towards St. Remy and St. Martin's Church
 The well organized travel routes and towns of the Romans throughout Europe greatly aided the spread of Christianity in the early centuries.  St.Martin's Church in St.Remy is visible from one of the hills above Glanum in  one of our photos.