Arles - Part two!

Well using Blogspot is a nightmare as you can see by the way in which it limits displaying photos properly, and yesterday it completely lost the plot and the formatting made it impossible to write a sentence. According to Ewan Google bought Blogspot but don't care about it, which might explain why it is so ordinary to use. Will have to find a better alternative  but in the meantime will soldier on and keep my fingers crossed that it doesn't go crazy again.

The rooftops of Arles and the Rhone river

So Arles has turned out to be a beautiful old town and we are literally living in the middle of it.
After we purchased our Arles Tourist Pass we set out to use it wisely. We get 4 monuments, 2 Museums and discounts on other places of interest.







Monument One:

After wandering around trying to see where everything is we decided to visit the Cryptoportiques - great word isn't it? We went down stairs under the Town Hall and entered a series of damp dark caverns with dripping water and lots of arches separating each space. We still haven't worked out exactly what it was used for but apparently it has been here since Roman times. Would have been perfect for storing wine but completely empty now.
 Walked past the Roman baths, and the Roman theatre, or the ruins thereof ,and decided not to go in until we had checked out our other Monument options.

Just wandering the streets is interesting as there are lots of Atelier shops . This indicates hand-made or artisan goods and here includes ceramics, hand-knitted vests, some home stores, local goodies, wines and all sorts of bits and pieces ( most of which won't fit in my bag).

Our living room: very nice!

After moving into our new abode (see photos of view from 2nd floor apartment!) we took the recommendation of our host and headed for the most non-tourist section of town. It's an area that has been populated for centuries by the sailor,s traders and workers who work on the boats on the Rhone river, on which the town is built.

For future reference - Airbnb - very nice place in the historic centre of Arles - host is Yann

We found a modest Bar on the outskirts and enjoyed grilled fish with fantastic crisp chips, and tarte tatin ( apple tart) for dinner.

Wednesday 10th May
First exciting activity of the day was ....going to the Laundromat. We tried to go last night but we arrived at 7.55pm and it closed at 8pm. Not good timing!

Equipped with lots of coins and a huge bag of washing we headed for the laundromat or laverie. First problem was that the detergent machine was empty so I headed off to buy some. In the meantime Ewan made friends wiht a delightful French woman who gave him some detergent and helped him understand the instructions. I returned to find them happily chatting ( her English was very good!) and the washing merrily churning away. She had an interesting family background and was very interested in genealogy so the discussion passed some time. After she left we deposited 3 Euros into the machine for the dryer as the instructions said (or so we thought) and left to find a coffee.

We had a lovely half an hour weaving our way through lots of tiny alleyways and lanes in the sailors area. the houses were stone and many had flower boxes and faded coloured wooden shutters. The houses are old and look as if they have seen better days but the streets have a real charm and are filled wiht the families who live there.

Then we were in trouble!!  Returning to the laundromat we were met by a French woman who spoke rapid French and gesticulated wildly about the fact that we were supposed to stay and put 50 cents into the machine every 5 minutes, not put 3 Euros in and leave. So our money had been returned and she had been putting it in every 5 minutes whilst we strolled around. We thanked her profusely and she calmed down and was very nice. Phew! Two examples of very kind helpful Frenchwomen.
I'm seriously considering writing a book about surviving laundromats in Europe: they are a never ending source of entertainment and a great chance to meet the locals.

The main reason we are in Arles is because this is where Van Gogh spent quite a few years and painted some of his best-known works. So the first port of call this morning was the Foundation Van Gogh. It currently has 8 original paintings by Van Gogh, but hosts special exhibitions and at the moment it is a large exhibition of paintings by Alice Neel, an American woman.

The Van Goghs were beautiful and my favourite was one of some olive trees. Lovely to see the originals I have to say. The beauty of the light and the detail is lost when you see these images in tea towels, mugs, umbrellas and every form of souvenir imaginable..

I wasn't familiar with Alice Neel's work but her paintings are stunning: the faces and emotions beautifully captured and she leaves the rest of the painting unfinished to let you'r imagination do the rest. These were some of my favourites.

Museum One: Museum Reattu

It's the local regional Musee so has a range of paintings, both ancient and modern, and photography and sculpture. Quite a mixture but some lovely pieces.
It did include some Picasso drawings and some lovely pieces painted by Andre Reattu after whom the Musee is named. I particularly liked some drawings by Christian LaCroix, the fashion icon, but as usual there was some art neither of us could fathom!

Ewan trying to decide what this piece was all about?!

Monument Two:

The Cloisters  of Saint Trophime: pretty and old. have been carefully restored so you can enjoy the detailed carvings in the capitals of the columns

Monument Three:
The Roman Amphitheatre which is still used today for events but commenced building in 1st century AD. Still impressive although about to be completely reconstructed. Unlike others we've seen this one had actually included four towers for defence purposes.
It has no seating left because centuries ago when it was no longer used it became a stone quarry and much of the stone was taken to build housing. Every large monument we have seen has, at some time in it's history befallen the same fate. Certainly costs a lot when you want to rebuild it now!

It;s still used for events , concerts, festivals etc and the Camargue version of bullfighting.

Monument Four:

Ewan checking out the contents of a sarcophagus: 

The  Roman Necropolis which consisted of a long avenue filled with many Roman sarcophagi made from substantial blocks of stone.

Van Gogh's painting of the Necropolis : a copy is located in the exact spot where he painted it.

Four monuments seen!! Yay! And tomorrow we will visit the Museum of the Camargue on our way to Marseilles so we will have done all we needed to do for the Arles Pass.

But wait: there's more! In a fit of enthusiasm yesterday at the Tourist Office we booked ourselves in for a Van Gogh tour at 5.30pm today. Fortunately we were the only ones doing the tour so we had the guide, Anne, to ourselves. We tramped around all of the key points in town related to Van Gogh's time here, which was only a couple of years.

The story goes that he was on a train to Marseille and Africa to paint in pure sunshine and blue skies, as light was his obsession. The train was halted at Arles because of a rare snowstorm and he was forced to disembark. Then he realised that the light was very pure in Arles and so he didn't go any further. His output was prolific whilst here and there are 9 of his paintings dotted around town in the locations where he painted them.

 It was also the time when he became unwell and cut off his ear and went to Hotel Dieu, the public hospital. I have no doubt, on hearing more details about his life, that he had schizophrenia but that's not an interesting story.
He died at the age of 37 having sold one painting in his entire life. Very sad.

By the end of the tour we were totally exhausted and headed for home. We revived slightly when we came across an Artisan patisserie selling local cakes.

Note the little sprig of lavender in the middle of the tart!

So we bought a lavender tart (this is Provence of course!) and a sable de Provence, a delicious almond and caramel slice. As for the lavender tart Ewan commented that it smelt like toilet freshener , and it was a bit too fragrant......but we ate it anyway and had an early night. Rest day must be on the cards soon I think!

your art critic and Roman expert correspondent

Dianne