Down to Arles - Tarascon from the River

A set the alarm for me to go off at 6 and I got up and was out on deck by 6:30 just after the sunrise.

The Sun has risen

This was because the ship did not leave Avignon until about 3 am as it was such a short distance to Arles, and we were going to pass King Rene's Castle at Tarascon at 7 am and I wanted to get some more photos of it. The castle was built by the Duc d’Anjou, cousin of King Charles VI between 1400 and 1435 but is mainly associated with his son, Good King René who inherited it in 1449. Much of the castle’s interior was ransacked during the French Revolution and became a prison in the 18th Century, which it remained up until the 1900’s, you can see graffiti scratched onto the walls and floors by the prisoners incarcerated there. The castle was bought by the city in 1932 and restoration of the castle began in the early part of the 20th century. We did not go into the castle in 1964 and I do not know if I could have done. It is open now, but I did not try to visit.

First we went through a lock which I had not had a chance to see yet except from our stateroom window - which was very uninformative since all we saw from there was the lock walls. (Without the bow camera working, I could not see a lock coming in time to get out and photograph it and sometimes it was just too hot to stay out there and wait). So it was an extra reason to get up early today - I could photograph the lock

Approaching the lock

Signs on the lock

Live jackets must be worn - All boats must be moored

Hands are prohibited?

Entering the lock - red light at the end

Lock - Viaduc de Tarascon/Beaucaire. Works from June to October

Lockhouse with our ship reflected in the windows

Side of the lock with numbers and yellow arrow at the stopping point

Water starting to leave the lock

Water leaving the lock reveals the lock gates behind the buffer wall

Looking up as we go down

No smoking

Lock gates start to open

Lock gates opening

Side of the lock as the lock gates open

Green light

Docking point - with depth indicator

Spikes on the light are meant to keep birds off. Seagull doesn't care

Seagulls

Docking point with a floating dock

Château de Beaucaire tower above the trees

The Château de Beaucaire is a ruined castle It is on the west bank of the Rhone

in the commune of Beaucaire in the Gard département of France. The existing structures date from the 12th and 16th centuries, with other elements from various times in the Middle Ages. First built in the 11C, it was torn down on Richelieu's orders. It is on the other side of the Rhone from Good King Rene's castle

Docking point on the left as we approach King Rene's castle

Right of way sign? and big windmill in the back

Bridge which looks like it has signs on it that we can't go through

Yellow light means go on the right

When I get closer I see that the bridges are not so close and the yellow lights line up for us to go through.

King Rene's castle

Yesterday, the taxi drive drove around and over the bridge so I could get the castle from a different angle, and today I got more photos from the river of King Rene's castle. René D’anjou aka Good King Rene, (born Jan. 16, 1409, Angers, Fr.—died July 10, 1480, Aix-en-Provence), was duke of Anjou (from 1430), and count of Provence and of Piedmont. In 1419, when René was 10, he married Isabel of Lorraine aged 9. He was also titular king of Naples from 1435 to 1442. The affairs of the kings, queens, dukes and duchesses are too complicated for my brain but apparently Rene was captured, lost Naples and was required to pay a huge ranson. He is supposed to have been taught to paint in prison under the guidance of Jan van Eyck. After his first wife died, he married Jeanne de Laval, 20 years his junior, he retired to Tarascon where he dedicated himself to the love and patronage of the Arts, holding court in his castle with many of the painters, writers, astrologers, physicians, (including Jean of Saint Remy, the grandfather of Nostradamus) of the day. King René, often called Good King René, as instead of punishing people with death and torture he preferred to exact fines and taxes, (he was in constant need of money), was the last ruler of Provence.

King Rene's castle on the Rhone

Tunnels at the base of King Rene's castle

St Martha's steeple

St Martha's is across the street from the castle.

Steeple backlit by the sunrise

Electric train crosses the bridge in front of us

The special of the day today was Eggs Benedict, so I had that. I took some photos from the dining room.

Eggs Benedict for breakfast

Photo from breakfast

Breakfast bread

Arles from the dining room