Nadine Feldman, Author

celebrating strong female characters and whatever else strikes my fancy

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Arles

Food, Roman Ruins, Food, Van Gogh, Food…

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After our decision to end our misadventure in Avignon, we were rewarded with the more charming Arles. On the way there we visited Orange, where a Roman theatre exists with the most intact stage of any left in existence. The theatre once had a tiny village built inside of it that has since been removed! In this part of the world, the ruins are used wherever possible. This stage has been the home for theatre, opera, and rock concerts.

Arles, our new home for three nights, proved to be a lovely choice for us, although it rained so hard when we arrived that we failed to notice the Roman ampitheater right next to the hotel! The next day, when the sun came out and we explored the town, it was QUITE obvious. This ampitheater is used as well, this one for bullfights. I never pictured the French as being bullfighters, but apparently it’s popular in these parts, anyway (yuck).

Eating in Arles has also been a pleasurable experience. We found several little restaurants with a traditional French feel…lovely tablecloths and china, art that often pays tribute to the local bullfighters, and elegant, imaginative meals. We have been brave enough to try the local rose wines, which are far different and better than I expected.

Arles, I realized, has a familiar feel because Van Gogh painted so many scenes from the town. In fact, one can stand at any street corner and imagine replacing the actual buildings and furnishings with his unique brushstrokes.

When Van Gogh lived in Arles, the locals weren’t excited about him. It’s understandable, given his erratic behavior, but the net result is that not a single Van Gogh painting exists in Arles. Undeterred, the locals came up with a unique and exciting idea: to create a tribute museum, where artists would create their own interpretations of Van Gogh paintings, or portraits of the artist. It sounds like an odd idea, but it works really well. I was moved by the art in the museum, all of which was high quality and honored Van Gogh in a special way.

The next day, we drove to Nimes, Uzes, and Pont de Gard for still more Roman ruins. We saw the arena, main temple, and Temple of Diana at Nimes, and we enjoyed a pleasant lunch outside on the main square. Quick factoid: the fabric denim originated in Nimes (de Nimes, or from Nimes).

Anyway, the high point of the afternoon was the Pont de Gard, a huge aqueduct in excellent condition. We finished our day by returning to Arles and yet another awesome meal. By the way, we were told we would be sick of olives by the end of this trip, but last night was the first night we were served any! We have both now had dishes made with olive oil, and the flavor is much richer when tasting fresh, locally made oil. Yum!

We are in our last week of the trip now, high on a hilltop in a town called Menerbes. The view from our apartment is fabulous, and since it’s another nice day we’ve opened up the windows to let the fresh air in. Although we plan a longer trip tomorrow to Cassis on the Mediterranean, we will spend most of our week tooling around the little hilltowns here in the Luberon. There are some wineries we want to visit, and we’re going to seek out those out-of-the-way Michelin-starred restaurants to see what all the fuss is about.

We made another swing by Rousillon to get more pics of the ochre in the hills. I’ll get these up on Facebook as soon as I can. Hopefully this time I captured the rich colors better.

Know When to Fold ‘Em

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Yesterday we treated ourselves to two interesting towns in Provence:  Les Baux and St. Remy. Les Baux is home to the ruins of a chateau, which we toured. Now, when I think of chateaux, I think of large, enclosed, glamorous places. I didn’t quite get the “ruins” part. Not that ruins bother me. Lord knows I’ve climbed and crawled around more than my share. It’s just that I thought our tour would be a warm, indoor experience. Wrong again. It turned out not to be overly cold, but we were greeted by an impressive wind. Provence, of course, is famous for its wind, but I guess I thought it hit only in the winter.

In spite of feeling blown around like a paper bag, we enjoyed the tour. The metal bauxite takes its name from this town, as the hills were once full of it. It’s amazing to me how, as we go from town to town, each not far apart from the other, the terrain looks so different. This rock I would call “pock marked,” gray with black. Looking out from the chateau, we got great views yet again, though it was too windy for me to feel comfortable taking photos.

Afterward we found the village of St. Remy, a warm and bustling place that thus far feels closest to what we have wanted in our Provence experience. We had a warm, hearty couscous stew with chicken, eggplant, and other veggies in a little restaurant where we were befriended by an American/British couple who now live in St. Remy full-time. They are in their mid-seventies and enjoy living in their little house in town–no Provence farmhouse for them, they like not having to get into their car! They gave us lots of food for thought for future stays and longer visits, should that turn out to be our goal. She said that a lot of the villages, though charming, are pretty dead with just one or two bistros and people who don’t speak to one another. St. Remy, on the other hand, has a lot going on, including a good-sized ex-pat population.

Van Gogh spent a year in St. Remy in the psychiatric hospital, which still exists today and which still offers art therapy as part of its treatment program. During this time, he painted more than 150 paintings (of an astounding 890 or so in 10 years). He would walk the various roads and fields of the area. We walked one of those roads, which was marked from time to time with information about his work and which paintings he might have done in each location or nearby. At the hospital, they had a nice exhibit of his biography, what his room would have looked like, and his treatment. Although he was a patient, they often allowed Vincent to leave the grounds in order to pursue his work. St. Remy was one of the few places that embraced and respected him during his lifetime–in Arles, they found him too strange. I guess when someone cuts off his ear, people get a bit nervous.

We made it back to the apartment for another workday for Henry, but the Internet was problematic yet again. It has power blips, and unfortunately, the router is in another apartment, so we can’t reset it ourselves. This morning, when it went down one more time, Henry decided it was time to go. I didn’t argue with him. I didn’t like the apartment much, and Avignon never did grow on me. I think they are trying too hard to be modern and hip, when what we want is a more traditional Provencal experience. Plus, the town is sort of dingy and run-down and sad. So, we checked out and headed for Arles, where we will spend the next three nights in a local hotel that seems quite charming.

We know that our style of travel involves a certain risk, and things don’t always work out. Last year in Jerusalem we had to make a switch–inconvenient and stressful, but we ended up in a fantastic place that we really enjoyed. We think we’re going to spend our last week in Lourmarin, which has some tourist trade but isn’t overrun, and is still said to maintain its charm. I’m not totally sure where we’ll end up, but we will be fine…just more stories for the grandkids!