This morning we went to Orange. Orange had their market day today but we arrived later and caught the last few stalls doing their last sales before clearing up (in some of today's photos you can see the array of spices and cheeses available). This town has one of the oldest churches we have ever seen. It is 3rd - 4th century and very well preserved.. There is also an ancient Roman theatre here. It is actually the best preserved example of a Roman theatre in France. Today it is used for concerts and operas so it has a few modern conveniences added. After lunch we searched out the Arc de Triomphe which was built in 20 BC. For a smallish town, Orange has a lot of "old things"!
It's time someone takes over the blog who actually cares what they write !! Jan actually picked up the French cheeses book as her reference book so you can understand how interested she is !!
When the first Roman army attempted to conquer Gaul it was defeated near Orange with a loss of 100,000 men in 105 BC. When it came back three years later and triumphed one of the first monuments built to show supremacy was the 22m Arc de Triomphe so this is now over 2000 years old. The Roman theatre, which still houses concerts today, was constructed at the start of the Christian era and is therefore a similar age.
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