California to Jerusalem
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Walk every step in peace. |
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Last June we made our way into Arles. It is already six months later. Here are a few of the pictures I took while we passed through.  A tree-lined road in southern France, a road like so many others. Sometimes trees are larger, sometimes smaller. And like this line, the trees often lean one way or the other. 7 Jun 10.  We ate a lot of cherries from trees along the roads and we walked through June. Someone had just pruned this tree and left the branches and many cherries on the ground. We each probably ate a quart before we moved on. As you can see, there were a lot left in this tree hanging over the road. 7 Jun 10.  Petra walking a farmer's pathway. 13 Jun 10.  An arch in the middle of Montpellier. Petra asked me to take this picture. I didn't have much hope for it. But I have to admit it came out well. 13 Jun 10.  A shield on the pavement marking the route of the Chemin de St. Jacque, the Camino de Santiago through Montpellier. 13 Jun 10.  This Montpellier building has but two windows, the ones on the upper left. Everything else save the tables in the front is painted on the wall. It is a huge, very effective mural. Even the "people" sitting on the "steps" up to the "door" are painted. 13 Jun 10.  Some horses come over to chat with Petra. 15 Jun 10.  A rabbit sits between rows of lavender in the Arles area where there are huge fields of purple filled with the flowers used for honey, soap, perfume, and who knows what else. 15 Jun 10.  Petra walks through a tunnel of trees as we leave Le Cailar. 16 Jun 10.  I have always wondered how the cultivate and harvest rice. I found out that same day. Here they used a different set of wheels to fertilize the field. Then they dr0ve the tractor onto the trailer in the foreground to transport it from the field. 19 Jun 10.  As we approached Arles on June 19, we had decided to end the pilgrimage there. This was to be the "official" end-of-the-pilgrimage picture. We took it as we walked a little-used road a few miles from Arles. As it turned out, we instead put the pilgrimage on hold and went back to California for three months. When we returned we started up in Arles again. 19 Jun 10.  As I looked over a map of Arles one day, I discovered a Rue Metras! It isn't a long street. It's in a dark corner of town along the river. Here it is even with what I thought was our Anglicized version, Metras vs. Matrau that I thought was the French version. 21 Jun 10.  France has pleasant sidewalk cafés. This one is in Arles just below our hotel. 22 Jun 10.  The face of an Arles fountain. 22 Jun 10. Copyright © 2010-2012 Mike Metras, www.PilgrimageCreations.com | |