Avignon to Arles

This morning in Avignon, we climbed up to the top of the city, above
the Palace of the Popes, to see the river and the famous bridge from a
different angle.

We left Avignon for Arles at around noon. It's an 18-minute train ride, unfortunately in this case followed by a long wait for a taxi. Many vineyards and distant mountains make a very scenic trip. The landscape inevitably recalls Van Gough's and Cezanne's paintings of this area.

We ate lunch at a beautiful restaurant called L'Affenage. It serves traditional Provencal dishes and very local specialties. I had a marinated dish of "taureau" -- that is, meat from a bull, with traditional spices of Daube de Provence -- I could taste the orange zest that's one of the flavors of the dish as I'm familiar with it. (The server confirmed my perception of orange zest.)

A hearth in the dining room is used to cook steaks and other meats.

The restaurant is carefully designed to invoke nostalgia!

Clockwise from upper left: waiting to order; snails; ravioli with cepes (fabulous mushrooms) and cream sauce;
lemon tart with meringue for dessert; marinated beef for my main course;
potatoes for both of us; Len's duck with cepes and cream sauce.

Steaks cooking on the hearth for another table.

After lunch we walked in the garden near the Roman archaeology site. We'll be seeing lots more.

We are now in our hotel, and will soon meet our one-week tour, "Birds and Art in Provence."

UPDATE: The full name of the special daube is Gardiane de Taureau. I found a recipe online ... to see it click HERE.