Post by Ella Staying in a pedestrian only area in Arles and having a rental car meant finding a place to park added to travel challenge. Our AirBnB host gave us the location of a parking garage that was “secure and monitored “ 24/7. A 15 minute walk to the apartment. Okay, that works. We…
Category: Découvrir la France
Our Arles place
Post by Ella 
La Nuit Arlésienne (The Arles Night) is the name of our apartment. I guess the hearts were meant to catch your eye so you’d stop scrolling the listings on AirBnB. “Oh, this one must be great, look at those hearts”. Honestly, emojis as part of a name confounds my brain. I guess…
Anubis
I’ve come face-to-face with this Egyptian god of the underworld and protector of graves. He has the body of a man with a canine head, so even from a distance he’s hard to miss. I first ran into him while moiling through the Louvre. I was trying to skirt the crowd and there he was right in…
The stately bird
How can one not love a penguin or a flamingo? The penguin for waddling in a tux, the flamingo for its stately pose in pink finery. It’s only fitting that we made our journey to the gathering of the flamingos in France. Their upright stillness, the long graceful loop of their necks as they dip their beaks in…
Good place to crown a king
The Saint-Trophime Catholic Church holds a prominent corner of the large square in the center of Arles that once was the Roman forum. It was first constructed in the 12th century. It was built in the Romanesque tradition as you can tell from the pillars fronting the entrance. When it comes to medieval churches, I prefer Gothic…
Dining next to Van Gogh
Post by Ella Yesterday, Grubb wanted to soak up the Van Gogh vibe (along with a lot of rain) so after he snapped a dozen or so photos of the closed Le Cafe Van Gogh, we sat down for lunch under an awning at L’Apostrophe right next door. We both opted for burgers. I went…
Flamingos
Post by Ella The Carmague, a regional park south of Arles is known for its abundance of birds and other wildlife including flamingos and white horses. In Arles, the Rhône splits in two and between the two branches, in the area close to the sea, there are abundant salt marshes. At the Ornithological Park within…
Non, non, not that table!
This shot of colorful boat-shaped tables outside a seaside cafe in Menton had me recall tables we had come across near an outdoor museum kiosk a few days earlier. The museum kiosk had, unbeknownst to me, a hierarchy of tables. I thought we could sit down and have a cup of coffee, but was quickly informed…
The cryptoporticus of Arles
I forgot to mention that in the midst of our Arles rain walk we took a brief tour of the cryptoporticus, a “semi-subterranean gallery whose vaulting supports portico structures aboveground” such as the forum which served as the Roman marketplace of the city. No one is quite sure went on down there during Roman rule,…
Rain break
Post by Ella Musée Réattu, housed in a 15th century building, was delightful. We might have skipped it but for the steady rain. This was the first break in our perfect weather streak so not complaining. In fact, torrential downpours and thunderstorms had been forecast but the waterworks never got more intense than a steady…
Rainy day rambling in Arles
Arles, two-thousand years ago was an important Roman city. It still has the ruins of a coliseum that used to be able to seat ten thousand people. Up the cobbled street from where we’re staying, we paid it a mid-morning visit. Now bullfights take place in the arena. From what I’ve read they have a benign variation on…
Ghostly sense of humor
Post by Ella Did they slither up from below the ancient Roman walls of Arles?
A cozy French dinner
Post by Ella In our corner of Arles, the restaurants open for dinner at 7:30pm. Which is not unusual for a lot of countries. I booked a table at the intriguing Le QG. All the restaurants are small, it was Friday night and even though we’d seen few tourists, I was guessing this area was…
We are curious (yellow)
Arles is known among art lovers as the place in Provence where Van Gogh spent a prolific 15 months in the late 1880s finishing over 200 paintings. During this time his work became brighter as his attention became more focused on his surroundings. Just look at “The Yellow House,” “Bedroom in Arles,” or “The Night Café.” Arles is…
Moving on to Arles
Post by Ella Early risers we were. Got out of the apartment by 9am. Whew hu! It was an easy walk with our luggage to the tram stop. Well, except the tram station for this stop turned out to be underground…down several flights of stairs. Easy 25 minute ride to the airport. We found the…