Provence, France

Arles was our first stop this week.

Arles and the Rhone river

Sunny, dry and hot days with cool nights.  So we walk all over, stop to rest at town squares or benches and city walls that were constructed by the Romans ages ago.

Provence has a long history of invaders.   Arles' landscape can be said to be dominated by antiquities and a relentless sun.

Roman amphitheater used for entertainment (gladiators shows, bull fights and other productions, maybe rock concerts when they get it restored)

We followed a map that guided us to Roman, Medieval, Renaissance times and then Van Gogh, who painted all over town.

A Van Gogh scene from my camera 

Arles seemed a bit overrun by tourists, at least in the old part of town where we stayed.  The place where we stayed was a renovated 16th century town home near the city walls. The narrow alley ways made it impossible to tell what time it was and whether it would be sunny.  At night, there was absolute silence.  No sounds at all.  No crickets, birds, cars, planes, people. I have never experienced such a feeling of being deep within the stone confines of a place!  Yet, from the kitchen's back window we had a lovely sight of almond trees and bright roof tops:

St. Remy is a softer kind of place.  Leafy, and dominated by les Alpilles, what we came to explore.

The Gauls fought the Romans in St.Remy, where we are stationed for the week.  There are visible remnants from all of them. We walked to Glanum, the early Roman settlement which might have given birth to St. Remy.  As it turns out we are here during Patrimony Days, Culture days, so to speak, so we are able to get into museums for free!  We spent a bit of a day exploring the St. Paul de Mausole Hospital where Van Gogh was hospitalized before his death. He spent 1 year there and turned out about 150  pictures and 100 drawings during that time period. Imagine what we could have had from him had he lived with some sense of security most of his life!  Or maybe not,since security does not seem to engender a creative spirit.

Starry Night

Entrance to St. Paul's hospital

Today we spent some time in Les Beaus, a town built on a cliff south of St. Remy.  There was a special exhibit in the quarry, a large space, where images were projected in a multimedia project.  My favorite were the impressionist's work that were projected on the ceiling, floors and walls all around us with amazing music to go with them.  Could not use flash but her is a sample of the work: 

It was enchanting!  We ended up the day the best way possible;