Ohh La La!!!! The life for me!

   Jeez, I love the French!
   Really!!
   They have a way about them.  They seem like such a fun loving people.
   For example, at St Chamas there is a mostly male group that hangs out during the day.  They laugh, talk, yell....but when a pretty young thing comes past they all get quiet and watch.  Well, most of the time.  If it's one of their daughters, they say hello and go on talking and laughing.
   When women greet each other, or a man, they do the cheek to cheek kiss.  When men greet each other they generally shake hands, pat each other on the back, and burst into deep laughter over what one of them has said.
   They shake hands in groups.  If four people are sitting and a fifth joins them, the new person shakes hands one person at a time, making their way around the table.  And they shake as if they hadn't seen the person in months.
   But everyone seems to smoke.  Cigarette packages have huge warnings about early death, cancer, heart problems.  But young kids, women, and older men just keep puffing away.  While I was enjoying a pastis a couple of guys drove up in a car and parked.  The driver had just it a cigarette and took two puffs, then gave it to his friend because he was going in a store.  He hacked and coughed the entire walk.  His friend puffed away, hacking and coughing after every puff.
   But it is the young kids smoking that bothers me.  They are looking at a middle and old age filled with increased cancer, emphysema and heart attack rates.  They can't be unaware of the risks.
   Another thing I noticed in Spain, Italy and France:  The people working work hard, the people not working play hard.  Whatever the job was.... bus driver, crossing guard, station agent, waitress....the people all approached it with a dedication and verve that I sometimes don't see when I go someplace in the states.  And all day, there are people in the bars and cafes, having coffee, or wine, or a beer...... I wonder if those people work at all!  And I wonder where they go in the winter!!
   Shops close at noon in many places and don't open until later in the day.  In Switzerland by Julia they close 12-2; in Italy they were closed 12-4, in St Chamas they closed at 12....not sure when they reopened, some did at 2 and others did at 4.
   And shopping on the weekend is tough.  Unless it is a tourist area, most shops are closed on Sundays.  Many grocery stores close early during the week so you better have food before 6 on Saturday if you want to eat on Sunday!
   I admit I love the French.  I love visiting France.  I try to speak the language, sometimes with success.
   But my time in France is over for now.  I'm back at Julia's, which is in the French speaking part of Switzerland.
   And that is strange also.  Switzerland isn't big, but it has three languages:  French, Swiss-German, and Italian.  A fourth language is also spoken in a small area.
   Many of the younger people speak two or three languages.  Older folks, like me, are stuck in one.
   I left France on the train at noon....it was cool and dreary.
   At Julia's it is thundering and raining.....the forecast for the weekend.
   Not the best kind of weather for cows and festivals!!

Square in Arles...hotel is on the left in the middle....third floor, no lift

Entry way in Arles....city has heavily bombed during WW II and rebuilt after the war

This dates to the decade before the first century AD.  The area towns have started a renovation of Roman ruins, and much work has been done in Arles.  The lighter stones are new, quarried at the same location as the original stones were taken.  Work has been going on for years and is still not finished.

Bullfights are still held in Arles.....with the final ones for the year in two weeks.  These are no kill fights.  The matador has to remove two ribbons and a strip of cloth from the horns of the bull.  Sadly, they also have Spanish fights where the bull is killed.  It's like Nascar....stats are kept and standings posted.  Even the bulls get rated in the no kill fights!

What is it with cats on car roofs in Arles??

First building you see coming into town from the train station.

Arles is a walled city....the side of town facing the train still has towers and part of the wall.  There are remnants throughout the town of the wall and medieval structures.