From our arrival in Arles last night onwards we have been immersed in a rich blend of charming 18th century laneway architecture, massive and mindboggling Roman remains and marvellous museums. My ICOM (International council of museums) pass was burning hot as i flashed it to gain free entry to the Musee Reattu, which cleverly blended artworks from the past and present in historic rooms; Musee Departemental Arles Antique, which for me the highlight was the massive the longboat found in the mud of the Rhone River with a great doco video on its conservation; how I'd love to work as a conservator, documenting and washing all the pieces and sticking them back together with resin; then there was of course the popular Fondation Vincent Van Gogh Arles which actually doesn't own any Van Gogh's but borrows them and there were around 10 stunners on display alongside big name 20th century and contemporary artists (A Dolphine Monticelli, Pablo Picasso, Sigmar Polke, Giorgio De Chirico, Germaine Richier, Alexander Calder, Joan Mitchell and Etel Adnan) who responded to the theme of the sun, including African American hippy performance artist Sun Ra. I also enjoyed the upstairs exhibition Paul Nash: luminous elements, which elucidated his experience of early 20th century life and WWII in a metaphysical rather than literal sense.
The museums that are part of old town aren't huge by comparison to other European heavyweights but that fits in well with the charming domestic architecture surrounding them; imagine living next door to a museum in Arles; it's possible. This contrasts however, with the other public buildings that you suddenly find around a corner. And this coincided with increasing power of the middle classes during the 17th century. Towns such as Arles began to build big civic buildings on a grand scale. The Town Hall (or “mairie”) in Arles is a good example. It certainly achieved its goal of competing with the religious buildings that had been built before. But then there is the Roman Amphitheatre and Theatre Antique.
The two-tiered Roman amphitheatre was built in 90 AD, and could seat over 20,000 spectators, and was built to provide entertainment in the form of chariot races and Gladiator style battles. Today, it hosts bullfighting (!!?) and plays and concerts in summer. The Roman Theatre of Arles, which preceded its famous neighbour the amphitheatre by a century, is less well preserved. Constructed at the end of the 1st century BC, it dates from the first phase of urbanisation of the Roman colony founded by Caesar in 46 BC. From the major light system set up, it would appear that concerts are also held here; it once catered for 10,000 patrons.
After checking out of our delightful Arles Airbnb we took one last cultural visit to Espace Van Gogh, the hospital where Vincent apparently had his ear stitched back on after that infamous incident. You can definitely see the inspiration for his paintings of the gardens there. For those of you not in the VG know, Vincent lived in Arles in the South of France for more than a year. He experienced great productivity there before suffering from a mental breakdown and produced many renowned paintings of the area such as the Yellow House, which he actually lived in. During this time he was joined by Gauguin and others; just imagine the creative climate!
On 8 May 1889, he left Arles to be voluntarily committed (although others tell me he was booted out as the locals had had enough of his lunacy) to a psychiatric institution in Saint-Rémy de Provence.
Unlike Vinnie, we left of our own free will and only because of the constraints of our crowded itinerary. This was the last day spent our hire car, without which we could not have explored many of the regions of France that we did; I think Annie and Carol didn't really want to part with it as they decided to take the 'creative' route, perhaps inspired by Vincent's madness, and we ended up on a bumpy road with views of factories - which I actually find interesting anyway. After dropping our luggage off at the new airbnb which had the narrowest doorway I have ever experienced, they journeyed off to return the car whilst I walked to the Vasarely museum. As it was a Monday, not much in the way of museums was open so it was either walk 35 minutes up hills, over a highway and along a ghetto like road or nothing. The museum itself featured huge Vasareley paintings, tapestries and mosaics but was being expanded so it didn't really take long to experience it all. By complete contrast, on the way home, I stumbled into The Pavillon de Vendôme, the surroundings of which were a complete contrast to the Vasarely Fondation, which resembled a building site in a remote location at the top of a hill. Reaching the Pavillion part of Vendôme required a pleasant stroll through formal French gardens with topiaried trees and seasonally planted flowers. As it was a long weekend, the public were out in force enjoying the ambience and warmth. Even some heavily armed young soldiers strolled through the garden (see photos), maybe to keep check on holiday revelers. My ICOM pass once again gave me access to the exhibitions inside the building (whereas it wasn't accepted at the Vasarely museum) and I was able to enjoy contemporary art within the 17th century interiors. Suitably the pavillion was built by an architect Pierre Pavillon (between 1665 and 1667). It was commissioned by for Louis, Duke of Vendôme (1612-1669) as a place where he could take his lover, Lucrèce de Forbin Solliès, also known as "la Belle du Canet". That's a lot of money invested in an affair!
Later, it was owned by the painter Jean-Baptiste van Loo (1684-1745), who had a studio there. It has also been owned by a Science academic, a Bishop who turned it into a Catholic boarding school for girls and a Swiss art collector, who donated it to the city.
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