Arles

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Arles

On this morning we headed west, retracing our route to Aix-en-Provence and from there on to Arles. The trip was about 250km and, for the most part featured tidy farmlands. The exception occurs where the Autoroute du Soleil cuts north through some fairly dramatic mountain geography just west of Coudoux. It then settles down again into farmland and I was surprised at how big a role mixed farming plays in this part of France.

Arles lies along the Rhone River and dates back to the time of the Romans. Evidence of Roman habitation exists in a partially restored amphitheater and a coliseum which lie within a long stone's throw of each other. I was very keen on seeing the city because it was here that Van Gogh lived in 1888 and where he tried to establish an artistic community. Sadly, only Paul Gauguin was persuaded to join him there and their relation was chiefly characterised by tempest. Nevertheless, Vincent produced over 300 paintings in the countryside around Arles, including "Starry Night," one of his best known.

I was very disappointed in our visit to the city, where not a single original piece of Van Gogh’s work exists. The little yellow house in which he lived was blown up during the war and never replaced. The Yellow Cafe that he included in one of his paintings is still there but we were advised not to eat there because it wasn’t any good. Any expedition into the fields where he would go to paint was out of the question on this tour. In summary, just another medieval town built around some ruins, with only a small bust in a small park to mark the artist himself.

We paid €44 for a guided tour of the city that was led by a guide who didn’t know how to use a microphone and whose only contribution to the adventure was to lose a very dear, white haired Chinese grandmother in the throng. Our regard for the competence of our tour director was elevated several notches as she literally raced through the streets of Arles in her high-topped boots, seeking for her lost guest. She returned to the bus, out of breath, with a safe but fuming-with-embarrassment grandmother in tow. Kudos to Cindy.

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