Today's recap.
Cold (10 C) and rainy. It was also a national holiday (l'asscention), but all the interesting sites were open. We took in:
1/ cloister St. Tropheme and the associated church. Worth seeing, though the interior was somewhat familiar. The curious element was a side alter containing relics, which consisted of the bones of saints in various gilded boxes. The bones were quite visible and reasonable large: a skull cap, a forearm, a piece of thigh bone. (It made me wonder about supply-and-demand for relics. Run out of relics? Just consecrate a new saint.)
The exterior includes a famous portco, which for some reason, we didn't linger over.
2/ the Roman theater. Sumptuous originally, though less than half is standing. Yet it is used today for concerts.
3/ the cryptoporticus (sp?), which were storage and support structures under the Forum. They were arched tunnels underneath the periphery of the Forum, and were quite extensive. Thye resembled the Horarium (sp?) of Narbonne.
4/ the Colisem.. Not as preserved as either the Coliseum in Rome or Nimes. In fact, photo's of it from the 1860 may have been the highligh of the visit. At that point in time, it was little more than a pile of terraced rubble. Extensive work has been done on it over the century, and it is now used for public entertainments, (inlcuding occasional bullfights).
5/ the baths. A reminder of how complete Roman civic life was, and how intricate the engineering.
Also bought Kate some shoes.The ones she brought were slippery and treacherous on the marble and stone of Arle streets.
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