We woke to a beautiful, sunny sky. The day held great promise for a our time in Arles.
Arles is a lovely city in Southern France on the Rhône River with wonderful heritage sites dating back to the Roman Empire. It has been home to many artists including Pablo Picasso, Paul Gauguin and Vincent van Gogh. Van Gogh painted more than 300 paintings during his time in Arles, from 1888 to 1889. Much of his time in Arles was spent in a hospital dealing with overwhelming emotional problems.
We entered the city at Fountain Amedee Pichot, depicted in the following photo. The fountain, located at 1-21 Rue Voltaire, was inspired by a Parisian fountain in Place Saint Michel and its focus is on the enamel medallion on its facade.
I found the houses on the streets, as we ambled along, were interesting and photogenic.
At a junction, which way to go and do all roads lead to Rome, or in this case, to the Forum?
We were in search of the Roman Amphitheater, a two-tiered structure that held over 20,000 people and was built in 90 AD. It’s within sight, just down this little, narrow street.
The Roman Theatre of Arles, adjacent to the Forum, was built during the reign of Caesar Augustus and is still in use today.
Perhaps the heart of the town is the Place de la Republique. In this photo we are looking past the Obelisk d’Arles at the Town Hall.
The Church of St. Trophime, located in the Place de la Republique, was built between the 12th and 15th centuries.
The sculptures on the portal depict the Last Judgment; entering Hell, first photo, and Heaven in the second photo.
I took a couple of photos inside the church to provide an idea of its interior.
We stopped for a coffee and a friend snapped this photo of us.
Van Gogh was hospitalized in December 1888 and again in January 1889. As the story goes, following an altercation with Paul Gauguin in December 1888 van Gogh cut off a part of his left ear and was then hospitalized with a diagnosis of acute mania with generalized delirium. While in hospital he painted the “Garden of the Hospital in Arles.” The following photo is of that garden. For more information about his stay see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hospital_in_Arles.
Here is a photo of our guide, holding a photo of one of van Gogh’s paintings done during his stay.
This building, in yellow, features in another of van Gogh’s paintings. It draws a big crowd. Our guide said the food wasn’t very good and that probably explains the fact that it’s out of business.
As we were heading back to the Hermod we passed this flower shop.
These lions stand sentry at what remains of a bridge destroyed during World War II and is where our stay in Arles ends.
