Made it to Arles

Well my vacation really started yesterday. The first week was pretty much spent just getting acclimated to France time and hanging out in Riantec.

We took the TGV (France's version of the high speed train) from Lorient to Marseille. The journey actually started at 5 am when we got up and secured Valerie's Moms house. Even though her place is in a small village the place is secured like a store front in a big city ( metal doors that roll down over the front and back doors, storm shutters etc). From there it was a bus then boat then second bus to get to the train station in Lorient. The trip itself was uneventful, unlike the trip from Paris our trains were on time and no problems with the connections.

We are spending 5 nights here in Arles. Valerie's Mom should be on a train headed to Arles right now - we are meeting here at the train station at around 10pm. Tomorrow morning is the big market, then a bull run at night. A bull run is similar to a bull fight with the big exception that the bull does not end up dead. In a bull run young athletic slightly nuts kids run in front of bulls and pull strings or ribbons from there horns. Local merchants provide prizes for the successful individuals. Not as much blood but still lots of action.

Today we hit the tourist office and got the Arles museum pass. We made it to the Ancient history museum and the ruins of the roman baths. There are 5 or 6 other places we will try to get too in the next couple of days.