Orange

About an hour and a half's drive north west of Aix is the town of Orange(pop. 30,000). Until recently, we'd NEVER heard of it and maybe neither have you but read on, this place is interesting....
Nick and I have been interested in Orange as we have been reading about it in a fascinating book "The Road from the Past" by Ina Caro. In this travel/history book, Caro takes you on a driving tour of France northward from Provence. Caro "demonstrates that the best way to encounter a country is to examine its landscapes, architecture and history in chronological order..". Reading this book, it's easy to see her point and if we had the chance, we'd love to do the entire route she travels though out France using this book and following her trail. I think we'd need a few more years here however!
Orange is practically at the beginning of her book and her fascination with it was contagious and we were eager to see it for ourselves. Although sunny, the temperature Friday was barely above freezing. Not the best conditions for sightseeing but we bundled up and the five of us set out on our journey.
Established in 35BC as a Roman colony, Orange was built for the veterans of Caesar's Second Legion as a reward for their service in the Gallic wars. With a circus, theatre, baths and temple, the town possessed everything a retired Roman soldier could wish for- it was a miniature Rome! Today, over 2000 years later, Orange is well known for having some of the best surviving ancient Roman structures. Specifically the Theatre Antique and Triumphal Arch. We chose to begin our visit at the Theatre Antique built between 27BC-AD14. When you enter the theatre, you are almost standing in the large pit at the foot of the stage. You are beneath the massive stage wall-described by Louis XIV as the finest wall in his kingdom.

It is richly decorated with columns, ledges and niches. At one time there were different levels and platforms for the productions. Looking up you see a massive, white marble, statue of Augustus. He stands at over 11 ft tall, twice the size of any normal man. clearly he thought of himself worthy of the stature and position of the gods.

The theatre seats over 10,000 and has been being used for elaborate performances for over 100 years. We watched a small group of technicians setting up for some kind of Christmas performance and could only imagine what a big full on opera would be like here.

We watched a film about the theatre's colorful past. It was used a different times over the past 2000 years as theatre, prison, military outpost and at one time they even built dwellings inside of it!! Wow, if walls could talk!

By this time we had frozen fingers, toes and possibly other body parts as well....and we were hungry so we set off to find a warm spot for lunch. We were thrilled to find Restaurant Le Bec Fin(rue Second Weber, 04 90 34 05 10) not too far from the Theatre. Not only did the menu look delicious and well priced, but there was a fireplace with an open table for 5 right in front of it as well!! Heaven!

We ordered several kinds of pizzas, salad verte, pichet of rose, a few Cokes and, naturally, Nick's spaghetti bolognese. The paper thin pizzas were some of the best any of us have ever eaten! Nicholas' was our favorite with onion confit, cheese, tomato sauce and ham. Lindsey, Sarah and I had one with tomato, cheese, mushrooms and black olives. We had a long leisurely lunch with many laughs and took turns standing by the fireplace to warm up!

After lunch, we felt warm enough to spend some time strolling around the town. We window shopped and admired how the town was decorated for Christmas.

We ended up in a shoe store where Lindsey "Imelda" Bates found a darling pair of leopard ballet flats...the rest of us are holding out for leather goods in Spain next week.

Back in the car, we drove to the other side of town to see the Triumphal Arch which stands on a grassy roundabout("rond pont" en francais). With three archways, reliefs and fine coffered vaulting this 72ft high monument ranks as one of the grandest and best-preserved Roman arches in all France. Built in 20BC, all four sides are decorated with ornate coverings such as battlefield drama, naval accessories, roman armour, trophies and banners. As you can see in these photos, it is impressive.

Even though it was way above our heads, we could still see much of the detail of the carved scenes.

As the shadows lengthened,the air got even chillier and we all agreed it was time to head for the warmth of home!