A morning walking tour acqainted us with gritty, ethnic Arles, different from what we had experienced in Northern and Central France. Armed with a museum pass to all of Arles’ sights, we roamed the Roman ruins of the Amphitheater and the Théatre Antique and visited the Roman archaeology museum across the Rhône River. We walked in the footsteps of Vincent van Gogh, sampled Arles’ bustling outdoor market, and toured the Musée Arlaten for an intimate look at 18th- and 19th-Century Provençal folk culture.

The archaeology museum (Musée de l’Arles et de la Provence antiques) contained many scale models of Roman structures. Among them was an amphitheater showing how a treadwheel might have been set up to raise cut stones during construction. And a portion of the model was covered with a canvas awning; some historians speculate that this might have been how those seated in the interior of a Roman amphitheater were protected from the broiling sun.

Leaving Arles the next morning, a short drive delivered us to the soaring hilltown of Les Baux de Provence. Again arriving early, we had the wind-blown ruins to ourselves for a while. Les Baux was settled as far back as 6000 BC. During the Middle Ages it was the seat of the feudal Lords of Baux, who controlled 79 towns and villages in the vicinity and claimed ancestry from King Balthazar, one of the three Magi.

From the top of the castle ruins, I could look down on the rooftops of Les Baux and the broad plain all around. At one time this hilltown had a thriving population of over 4,000. Today, only 22 residents call Les Baux home, and they cater entirely to tourists. Fortunate for us, that catering left little to be desired. The village has a lovely gift shop, a picturesque and well-tended cemetery and pleasant shops with high-quality gift items and local products. I wish there had been time to have my feet bathed and massaged by the foot masseuse! She well understood that visitors would willingly pay for her service after tromping around the dusty, rocky ruins for a few hours.

We met for a group vegetarian Provençal lunch on the patio at La Reine Jeanne. The sunlight and cloudless blue sky were dazzling (made even more so by the glass of absinthe that a couple of us ordered!), but we sat comfortably under shady trees. On a bright day like this it was easy to understand why artists such as Vincent Van Gogh and Paul Cézanne, Post-Impressionist and 'Father of Modern Painting', left Paris to try to capture the Provençal light on canvas.

Continuing our scenic romp through the countryside of Provence, we passed Mt. Sainte-Victoire, which was painted from many angles by Paul Cézanne. I asked Patrick about the location of this mountain ahead of time and as we were approaching it, he made his way along the aisle of the bus to alert me that it was coming into sight. Unfortunately, the mountain was elusive to photograph through the bus window, but here is one of Cézanne's more than 60 portrayals of this mountain that fascinated him.

Finally, we arrived in Nice, on the edge of the azure-blue Mediterranean. Hugs and handshakes all around, we bade farewell to Ludo after deboarding the bus for the last time. A pang of realization swept through us that reaching the Côte d'Azur signaled the beginning of the end of our journey together. But we still had one more full day and the Riviera offered so many enticing possibilities for exploration and discovery — Monaco and Monte-Carlo, Villefranche-sur-Mer, Cannes, Antibes, Saint Jean Cap Ferrat, St. Tropez, the Russian connection in Nice, St. Paul de Vence — too many places to count! Has Rick considered a "7 Days on the Côte d'Azur" trip? I'll be glad to write the itinerary!