Arles is in the
Camargue region of
Provence in the
Bouches-du-Rhone Department in the south of France just under 450 miles from
Paris and not far from the Spanish and Italian borders. It has a very long history, going back before the Greek empire.
A beautiful and interesting city, it is a
UNESCO World Heritage Site. The artist
Van Gogh created some of his most
famous drawings and paintings in
Arles, including one of the
Cafe Etoile, which still is here. Another of his paintings made
the town's
little drawbridge famous. The drawbridge is still here, although not in its original position. The tourist office
offers a pamphlet showing a walking tour of many of the scenes Van Gogh painted ,when he was a resident in the late 1800's.
Or you can read about a Van Gogh inspired
walking tour here. The hospital that treated him for mental illness also still exists.
The town boasts a Roman ampitheater in which one can still attend a bullfight. There also is a Roman bath, a Roman theater and
a small part of what used to be the Roman Forum. And it has a very large and well stocked
archeological museum in which you
can inspect many Roman artifacts all found in the vicinity. Some of the ones in the museum are copies of originals that are
now in the Louvre in Paris. Their web site has a map that shows where all the Roman structures are located in Arles.
We have
visited twice, in 2002 and in 2005. The visit in 2005 was at the time of the
Camargue Rice Festival, when we had the opportunity
to taste some foods for which the Camargue is famous, listen to a band of musicians playing local tunes, and get up close and personal
with some of the white horses for which the Camargue is famous.
