We’re moving on to the Deep South of France near the Spanish border today ... Monday, September 16th.
Enroute we are going to take in one more place in Provence.
Our planned stop was in Arles (pronounced arl) which was built along the Rhône River.
We parked in a lot near the train station and first walked along the river to view one of the many Van Gogh easels.
La Nuit Étoilée ... Starry Night over the Rhône ... not to be confused with his other « Starry Night » painting he did while staying at the hospital in Saint-Remy de Provence.
There was a local artist set up with his easel painting as we were looking for this panel; he pointed us in the right direction and told us to look at the bridge to visualize what Van Gogh saw.
Nos amis.
Reflection of the bridge in the Rhône ...
Reflection of the bridge in the Rhône ...
From here we wandered into old Arles through the Cavalerie Gate down Rue Volitaire.
Van Gogh walked into town down this street in 1888.
The fountain pictured below was only a year old then.
The mosaic is said to « celebrate the high culture of Provence ».
In the 19th century this neighbourhood was Arles’ red light district ... not so today.
We continued our wander towards the Roman Arena (Amphitheater) ... you can see it in the background as you walk down these streets.
Can you see the arena just up ahead, you can take the left or right street ...
Here was another one of Van Gogh’s easels ... Les Arènes d’Arles ... the Arena.
The 2000 plus year old arena is still in use today ...
Soon we found another easel of one of Van Gogh’s famous paintings in Place du Forum ...
Le Café Le Soir / Café Terrace at Night.
Monsieur Honey and I are not your typical tourists when we travel ... today was an exception.
Our group was lured into La Café de la Nuit by the very attentive, friendly hostess.
Vincent Van Gogh’s painting depicts the café in a bright yellow from the glow of the surrounding gas lamps.
Vincent Van Gogh’s painting depicts the café in a bright yellow from the glow of the surrounding gas lamps.
This yellow was not unlike the sunflower yellow I once painted our guest room in the schoolhouse many years ago.
But in actual fact the facade was white limestone similar to the other cafés in the square.
Whoever painted the facade to match Van Gogh’s version ... had a brilliant idea to draw in the tourists!
Whoever painted the facade to match Van Gogh’s version ... had a brilliant idea to draw in the tourists!
We enjoyed a delicious lunch and some wine of course ...
And for a moment I thought “Vincent” himself was sitting beside us at the next table ...
After lunch we wandered a bit more ...
A bucket of painter’s brushes; how apropos in the town of Arles.
A pretty lane ...
I’m going to leave you with this ... I clicked the “shutter” on my camera many times today taking lots of photos of beautiful “shutters”.
The traditional shutters in the “Old Town” are strictly protected; there are many styles but they cannot be changed.
Note: I think I will do a separate post about Arles’ shutters.
We had a busy day playing tourists in Arles then we drove approximately 2 1/2 hours to Maureillas-las-Illas.
We had a busy day playing tourists in Arles then we drove approximately 2 1/2 hours to Maureillas-las-Illas.
We arrived late afternoon (5pm) ... a quick shop and we were ready to enjoy our first night in Maureillas-las-Illas.
More to come ...
