Sunday 5/12/19 – I made it to the town of Arles which is in the Provence region of France. Not too bad of a train ride with only one stop in Marseille. Spent a little time walking around the town (sunny day but man was it windy, but I guess that’s common here). But first I’ll share a little history both on the Provence region and the town of Arles.
The Provence region lies along the Mediterranean coast and stretches north thru the Rhône River Valley. The Romans were here in force and left many ruins, some of the best anywhere, and the regions name comes from its status as the first Roman province. Seven popes, artists such Vincent Van Gogh and Paul Cezanne, and author Peter Mayle all enjoyed their years in Provence.
As for Arles (pronounced “arl”, pop 52,000), back in Roman times, it earned the imperial nod by helping Julius Caesar defeat his arch rival Pompey at Marseille, and grew into an important port. Site of the first bridge over the Rhône River, Arles was a key stop on the Roman road from Italy to Spain, the Via Domitia. Vincent Van Gogh settled here in the 1800s, but left only a chunk of his ear (Lol). American bombers destroyed much of Arles in World War II as the townsfolk hid out in its underground Roman galleries.
As for the pictures, I tried to include a few while doing my walk around town. Given the Van Gogh influence, they’ve set up copies of his paintings all over town where he actually painted it showing how it looked back then and now. I included one as an example. I also included a pic of a stone monument in honor of two WWII American pilots killed in action during the liberation of Arles and showing their solidarity with the US. I even included a pic of the local Communist Party headquarters! And with my hotel being right on the Rhône River, I included a couple sunset pics with one including a river boat cruise ship that was docked here.
It’s another quaint town in Southern France. Enjoy!
Jeff
PS: Happy Mother’s Day to all the Mom’s out there. While my Mom has passed, I know she’s always there as my guardian angel watching over me as I travel the world. I love you Mom! ❤️
The Wandering Italian 