Honeymoon in Arles
So strategically placed it was once the Constantine capital of France, Spain and Britain all at the same time, the picturesque town of Arles ironically owes the preservation of its glorious architecture to its relative isolation.
The city's extraordinarily intact Roman arena, aqueduct and bridge have recently earned it a World Heritage Site listing.
Arles is also encircled by countryside of exceptional beauty: the banks of the Rhone river, the arid plains of Crau, the Alpilles and the untamed land of Camargue all of which Van Gogh sketched through a shimmering heat haze to found the impressionist style.
Arles today remains the gateway to Camargue, the land of the Gypsies, and the meeting place of the Camargue cowboys who still conduct bull runs and bull fights in the very same arena that was used by the Romans in the first century AD.
More information on Arles can be found at www.ville-arles.fr.