When in Rome

We have not made it to Rome yet, but as Walker is beginning his studies on the Roman Empire, what better place to explore than the largest and most important part of the empire outside of Italy itself - GAUL! Of course much Roman history took place in France and there are a considerable number of Roman ruins throughout France. So last Friday we did a quick journey to the incredible city of Vienne, France. The ruins of the Roman city, the museum full of Roman artifacts, and even the Roman temple and amphitheater in Vienne are all so easy to explore. The housing, public spaces, merchants shops and warehouses were all testimonials to very highly developed communities as far back as 50 BC. Just amazing.

Walker on a Roman dining couch.

shots from the archaeological site

The museum houses the largest floor mosaic ever found anywhere, and it was a part of a Roman dwelling in Vienne. I will include some pictures of some of the smaller mosaics. By the time I got to the large one (which was simply breathtakingly gorgeous), I was told I could not take photos. So enjoy what you do see. I probably shouldn't even have taken these. There are times when being a foreigner is just FINE. No harm done ... we hope!



From Vienne, we went to the Aeroport Saint Exupery outside Lyon. (History note: this aeroport is named for Antoine De Saint Exupery who wrote the book Le Petit Prince - he was a WWII pilot that disappeared on a flight mission during the war). We spent the night near the aeroport and the next morning we put Dick on the plane to return to Winston-Salem. Walker and I now know what is like to be "left in the middle of Kansas" with no kith nor kin. It is an adjustment not having our "French expert" but we are having many comical moments navigating the ins and outs of foreign living. Walker is quite the communicator, so we have that covered, and as long as I have our GPS (named Marge - because it works only marginally well), we can go just about where ever we wish. I do draw the line on the half lane wide cliff hanging, mountain roads. Even though our car is small, it isn't small enough for that kind of travel.

So our adventures continue and we hope you'll stay tuned. We are planning to go mushroom hunting over the weekend. Then the upcoming excitement for next week is our faithful house caretaker, Carlos, will return from his month in New York City. I will take his dear mother to the train station to pick up Carlos ---and we hope he decides to return home to his petit village - St. Marcellin !!!