Exploration, Gordes, and Arles!

Well! This past week was filled with further exploration of Lacosté and the mysterious things around the Chateau du Marquis de Sade, a trip to the Museum of Stained Glass as well as an olive oil Museum, both just outside of Gordes, a trip to sketch in Gordes itself, and a very long, jam packed day trip to Arles!
Lets start with exploration shall we?

This is a cute little path at the top of Lacosté, just passed what we call the "Goat Gate"- goats used to be herded in through the goat gate and through the town- which is the lesser traveled way up to the Chateau, so of course I love it.
Just a little ways up said path, one of my favorite places in Lacosté...alright I can't say that, I have 1,000 of those, but a sweet little doorway with a gate (which you can't see in this picture) that leads to this little plot of grass- I want to bring my lunch there during the day and stargaze there at night! This was the first thing I sketched in Lacosté, and I made it into my first Vernissage (exhibition) piece, which I quite like...that will be added once I scan it in.
At the top of the mini-mountain (the surrounding ones look taller) that Lacosté sits on...I am a five minute walk away from this stunning view. That will never get old and will never cease to amaze me.
This is the quarry behind the Chateau...or at least one of the quarries- on my many exploration hikes I came upon at least six, so I can't keep them all straight anymore. Either way, it's cool!
Chris and Dan leading the way to the mini hike that lead to my desire to explore in the first place. I love this field and the trees and...everything about this really.
Again, I am five minutes away from this! Five! There is nothing like this in what I have seen of America, let alone near where I live!
The entrance to every hiking endeavor (the gate on the left is so quintessential provincial!...but it's not the gate that leads to the forest- it leads to someone's house, I believe...so going down that path would not be the best idea).
There were numerous paths diverging from the original one, but also many that looked like they had been a path say...a hundred years ago- so I decided to venture down these old paths that almost weren't recognizable as any pathway. Down one of them I found a little hut/house and a bath/fountain thing? I'm not sure what its original purpose was. Sadly, I couldn't step back far enough to really capture it all seen as there was an edge and I had no desire to try and climb down it for a better shot.
The hut/house that I found. Inside were many cobwebs and such, and really old tools...but I got this really creepy vibe of medieval warfare and soldiers who now lay at rest...and not exactly a welcoming vibe to explorers, so I got creeped out and left. That happened with a lot of these houses I found...
Down another old "trail" I found this...for lack of a better word, "forest temple". I can refer to it as nothing else, but it was amazing. This did not give me such an eerie vibe as the houses, though I definitely sensed *some* decided being, which still succeeded in creeping me out. I also felt like I was in a place of worship or healing of some kind, though, so I wonder if this was a "hospital" for soldiers during the time of war between Bonnieux and Lacosté? I don't know, all of this is simply a guess, so don't take my word on any of this.
A view from the inside. Once again, pictures could not do this place justice.
Another quarry, but I know this one wasn't the one right behind the Chateau.
Moving on to the Museum of Stained Glass...
This really sweet-looking older woman had a crazy history (I can't recall it completely so I won't say anything in case it's wrong) and works with stained glass. She started out as a chemist of some sort, but now she has created this museum of the history of stained glass, as well as numerous pieces of art. None of these images do the stained glass justice, as it is so beautiful and we were rushing around, so snapping good pictures was made difficult.
One of her amazing sculptural pieces- all of which spin-, also made of stained glass.
Note the SOLAR PANELS on the roof of the museum- she created the solar panel piece a few years ago (she is always creating new projects for herself), and the entire museum is powered by solar energy. Now, if an elderly lady can do this in the remote corners of Provence, France...I think America can do something, don't you? Come on, America, keep up!
The Olive Oil Museum...
was actually used to produce olive oil until the 1920's! It was started by the Romans, I do believe, and had so many things that I can't begin to describe accurately in this blog! These are some of the old Roman oil lamps. I was very excited because I had studied about these and everything Roman and daily life in Rome in Latin class, so to see actual things that I had studied about was awesome!
Moving on to my trip to Gordes to sketch...
This is an okay picture of the town. It is on a hill even more so than Lacosté or Bonnieux and continued down the hill more than shows in this picture.
One thing I love about France: There are Boulangeries (Bakeries) EVERYWHERE! No kidding, there are so many of them, and they all make me so happy! Patiseries (pastry shops) are also very popular, which I'm not complaining about!
...I love Créperies too, you can guess what those are.
Sadly this is the only decent picture I was able to snap- we came here for Travel Portfolio to draw and we only had an hour and a half...to do two drawings, so I was mostly busy searching up a place to draw and drawing than exploring and taking pictures.

ARLES!!!
The big, long, exciting, eventful day trip which left me exhausted and filled with a whole bundle of different emotions.
This is the Roman Arena!...and me standing in front of it! Arles usually holds French style bullfights in the Arena, however because it was the Friday before Easter, Arles held a Spanish style bullfight- which happens only once a year- where the bulls are actually...well, lets just say they don't live no matter what. Those of you who know me at all can guess how I feel about this whole thing.
The front of the Arena is all old-looking, but the back has been polished and cleaned and restored. It is absolutely breathtaking! To think this is what it used to look like for Romans!!
Next, we visited the Roman Theater! Lindsay and I are just awesome and stood on top of some of the ruins!
The stage wall was, basically, completely destroyed. Those two columns you see are the only ones remaining, and they are only the bottom third of the original stage. There I am for size so you can see just how big the theater used to be!
Of course, as an actor, I had to. Theater started in Greece, Romans took inspiration from the stage and from the concept of theater and spread it all over the world (yes I'm exaggerating), but Romans stood on this very stage and proclaimed their love in a booming voice with astounding acoustics and wore masks! ...So it's a few years later, the stage isn't quite what it used to be, nor are the acoustics...and I'm missing a mask and the proper attire, but I can still try to get my voice to project and capture the non-existent audience with my bold acting!!!!!!!
In one of the squares- not Place du Forum, that's later- there were tents with clothes and everything else you can imagine, much like the open-air market in Apt...and street performers. They do exist, and this one was a juggler!
This was the square right in front of the Cathedral of St. Trophime.
This is the Cathedral of St. Trophime. It has been restored and cleaned up, just as the back of the Arena, and is really quite stunning.
For those art history folks, you better recognize this and appreciate it! I still remember sitting in class going over and over facts about this particular part of the Cathedral!!
Also, for those art history fans, the infamous XPI, or chi-rho-iota, represent the first three letters of "Christ" in Greek and are in practically every religious historical thing that I think exists- I have seen it so many times! It's everywhere! And yet this was the first time I saw it in person.
One of the crazy cool doorways in Arles, I had to snap a shot.
Another cool little place that I really want to go back to- it was a plant store, as you might have figured out, and the outside and inside looked cool. We didn't have time to go in it, though.

Les Alycamps! (the cemetery) Lining the entire long pathway leading up to this were empty, ancient sarcophagi...it was kind of creepy and eerie.
Every lamp post here is just too cool! It provides light, but it's actually attractive, and I'm not kidding when I say every lamp post that I have see here in France is like this, or decorative and pretty in some other way. Again, come on America! Observe and learn- monkey see monkey do.
Inside the Roman Arena for the bullfight. Not all of the original stones were preserved, for instance I sat on a wooden bleacher, but a lot of the actual stone seats were still there and people were sitting on them. This held so many people!!! I can't begin to imagine the Colosseum after this- it must have been HUGE!
The Matadors coming out- their costumes were absolutely beautiful! (Apparently "matador" literally means murderer....ahem)
The first Matador with the final red cape (earlier the Matadors had been using, what looked like, yellow and pink?...and they were basically a circle skirt that hadn't been sewn, only cut). I could only handle staying for one fight...I don't want to go into this any more and I couldn't take pictures after this. It was definitely an experience, one that I do not feel a need to repeat, but I'm glad I did it. I did not do the running of the bulls, though apparently it was much more tame than everyone claims it is- someone I know went up and touched one, and many people jumped onto it and left unscathed (mainly because the made it collapse onto its knees).
Pardon my slight bias here. The Matadors were very skilled, I simply disagree with the treatment of the bulls- though I was pleased to learn that every bull killed is used for food and leather...pretty much every part of the bull is used in some way.

Well, that concludes what I did in that week...in short. There's no way to capture everything to its fullest, but I do my best to share with you all what I can! Hopefully I'll find the scanners soon and show you some of the artwork that I have been able to do, too!

Until next time!