A day in Arles: Avignon Day 2 (12 Sep 2013)

How many towns do you visit that have gone from being capitals or major ports in their region to being small villages or minor towns? A surprising number it seems to us, which is just another reminder that towns, like people, should enjoy their day in the sun while they can, because it rarely lasts! Of course, towns, unlike people, can, with care, become more beautiful with age or, at least, can be more easily, albeit expensively, preserved!

Avignon is such a town, as is the nearby Arles. One reason for coming to Avignon was to visit Arles … and so this is what we did on Day 2.

There are two main reasons for going to Arles, besides just wandering about and soaking up the atmosphere, and they are:

1. Roman (and mediaeval) history trail

Arles has some significant Roman ruins, of which the main ones are the Roman amphitheatre, the Roman theatre and the Baths of Constantine. We bought a €9 day ticket which covered these and a few other sights. Pretty good value, except that many of the ruins are in poor shape and there’s minimal signage or interpretation (in either French or English) in most. Many of the buildings have suffered immensely over the years, often being modified for different uses as regimes have come and gone, but it’s great to see them being both used now and cared for as historic monuments. Let’s hope they get the use-preservation balance right!

We visited:

• Roman amphitheatre: a two-tiered amphitheatre built during the 1st or 2nd century BC. It is used to today for various events including bullfights, plays and other performances, and is the most popular Roman “ruin” in Arles. We climbed a tower for a view of the surrounding countryside. As we’ve said before, who needs gyms! At one stage in its life, it was converted into houses with a public square, but in the 19th century the French writer Merimée pushed for its recognition as a national monument.
• Roman theatre: built from around 40/30 to 12 BC during the reign of Emperor Augustus. Much of it has been destroyed, with very few columns that defined the stage remaining. The grounds were filled with carved capitals and other stonework. But there’s a good audiovisual display describing its history and use. It is currently used for outdoor performances.
• Cryptoportiques: underground tunnels, built around the 1st century BC as foundation for the forum. The forum no longer exists, so we entered these through the Hotel de Ville (or Town Hall). Again, lacking signage, all we can tell you is what Wikipedia says which is that masons’ marks suggest these ones were built by Greeks. Similar structures elsewhere were used as granaries, Wikipedia continues, but the one at Arles is too damp for prolonged storage and may have been used as a barracks for public slaves. It was certainly damp when we were there; we had to watch for puddles underfoot in certain areas. Interesting but more information would have been great.
• Church and cloister of St Trophime: the cloisters are currently undergoing major restoration with areas closed off, but we were able to peek in and see a bunch of conservators at their painstaking work. The cloisters were built in the second half of the 12th century in Romanesque style and the first half of the 13th century in Gothic style. There’s a wonderful tapestry hall, and some interesting sculptures – of course – including one of St Trophime who was apparently the first bishop of Arles around 250AD and a well-regarded one of St Paul.
• Baths of Constantine: built in the early 14th century when Emperor Constantine lived in the area. They are apparently among the best preserved in France. They were swarming with students sketching them, but there was almost no signage, in any language, describing the different parts.

2. Van Gogh trail

While there are no Van Gogh works or museums in Arles, this is where he (in)famously severed his ear, and, more importantly, where he painted many of his significant works, including Starry Night on the Rhône, The Night Cafe, The Yellow Bedroom, L’Arlisienne. He was in Arles from February 1888 to May 1889, leaving when the Arlisiennes became increasingly bothered by his drinking and erratic behaviour.

You can visit – gratis – L’Espace Van Gogh, which contains the garden, within the hospital grounds, that he painted. The garden is maintained much as it was when he was there so you can compare it with one of the paintings (displayed on a plaque).

But, we wanted more! And noted on our map that you could see the Langlois bridge he painted (more than once as it turns out), so off we trotted. Well, over 2.5kms later down a dusty road by the canal and having twice being told, about a kilometre apart, that there was a kilometre to go, we found it. And, while there was almost no directional signage to it, other than a couple of rough hand-painted ones, when we arrived, there was a plaque like the one in the garden, containing a copy of the original painting and some minimal details about the work. We were tired, but it was worth it – sort of, as we discovered that the bridge is a reconstruction of the original! Fortunately, it wasn’t overly hot and the walking was flat. Poor Arles. It’s hard to make a buck out of Van Gogh when you have so little!

Back in town en route to Constantine’s Baths, we came across another Van Gogh plaque at the bottom of a large bridge over the Rhône, but the bridge has changed a little since then and didn’t have the same allure as OUR bridge!

Refreshments

As we walked between sights, we came across a little patisserie or boulangerie selling warm out-of-the oven fresh-fig topped soft cakey-bread. After trying the free taste we had to buy to share a rather large slice for the very reasonable sum of €1.50. It was hard not to buy a second round but wheat-challenges, not to mention calories, made us see sense!

We had thought of finding a nice place for a leisurely lunch in Arles but in the end, with so much to see, we settled on a tasty lentil soup and fresh sandwich at a lovely little cafe, Le Monde de Sophie, in a side street. It was a great little find and kept us going for the rest of the day (though Len may or may not have bought an icecream in the afternoon!).

That night we ate at our second Pascal recommended restaurant, another small, seemingly family owned one called Le Chat Touilleurs. It was fine but our least favourite of the four of his recommendations that we tried. Sue did, though, enjoy her Chicken Brochettes with Honey Sauce, Fresh Fig and Rice. The chicken was a little dry, but it was tasty.

Three-words

SUE: Ruins, Conservation, Figs
LEN: Roman, Stone, Vincent

and the stills…

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and the movies…

Walking in the Cryptoportiques, Arles

 

The Roman Amphitheatre, Arles

 

The Espace Von Gogh, Arles