Saturday I took a day trip to Arles, which is about 45 minutes away by bus and is the only place I can go directly from Eyguières. It was so nice to only have to take one bus to get home. Carlos is currently proud of me because I was able to serve as a translator between some Mexican people and the French bus driver on the way home.
Arles is an amazing city. First of all there are all of the Roman ruins in the city, which are pretty well preserved. I saw the amphitheater, the theater, and the thermal baths. There are a bunch of other things to see, which I didn't have time for. Arles also has a unique Provençal history. The women of Arles wanted to distinguish their clothes from those of the women from Paris so they developed a unique style, which I think is really cool. Here is a photo of some Arlesiennes
After all of that, Arles is where Van Gogh was most productive, and I am a huge fan so I wanted to see a lot the places he painted. One thing I went to see was a reconstitution of his bedroom at Arles, which he painted several times. I was worried it was a tourist trap, but I decided to go anyway. It was not what I expected--it wasn't a recreation of the bedroom created on the painting, but actually a recreation of the painting so that my picture of the bedroom looks a lot like the painting. It was weird--like I was actually in the painting.
After all of that, Arles is where Van Gogh was most productive, and I am a huge fan so I wanted to see a lot the places he painted. One thing I went to see was a reconstitution of his bedroom at Arles, which he painted several times. I was worried it was a tourist trap, but I decided to go anyway. It was not what I expected--it wasn't a recreation of the bedroom created on the painting, but actually a recreation of the painting so that my picture of the bedroom looks a lot like the painting. It was weird--like I was actually in the painting.
It was really neat to see the places he painted, like the Rhone where he painted Starry Night. I also went to the mental institution he was sent to after he cut off his ear which is now a sort of park dedicated to him.
I really fell in love with Arles. It now has a spot on my list of favorite cities. On a certain level all provençal towns are charming because the weather is nice and the landscape is beautiful--plus it's full of beautiful houses with window boxes full of flowers. But Arles has so many layers of interestingness. I wish I'd had more time to spend there.
I have stopped taking my random walks in a certain direction during my free time after a hike I took a few weeks ago. I had decided to explore a mountain I hadn't been on before, and I soon saw a castle/fortress thing in the distance and started walking towards it. Turned out it was a lot further than it seemed to be, and I ended up going really far. I almost reached it, but then I saw a mysterious sign that said "abeilles" ("bees.") It wasn't "Watch out for the killer bees!!" or "Just for your information, there are a lot of bees around here so don't sit down on a bed of flowers or anything." Just "bees." I debated for a while and decided to turn around since it was getting late anyway. And on the way back...(let's not be surprised this happened---let's be surprised it took this long for it to happen), I got lost. Wandered around a little, freaked out a lot. After a little wandering, I saw my village in the distance. But now the question of--how to get off the mountain? I mean, you can't just walk straight down...I ended up inventing my own path and walking really carefully down (still having some ankle problems though not as bad). Anyway, I made it home after a great though unintentional work-out and vowed to be more prudent in the future. I haven't had much time for for hiking preparing for the trip home. Thursday afternoon!!!! Trying to focus on my excitement of getting out of here and not on the 6 airplanes it's going to take me to get home!!
I have stopped taking my random walks in a certain direction during my free time after a hike I took a few weeks ago. I had decided to explore a mountain I hadn't been on before, and I soon saw a castle/fortress thing in the distance and started walking towards it. Turned out it was a lot further than it seemed to be, and I ended up going really far. I almost reached it, but then I saw a mysterious sign that said "abeilles" ("bees.") It wasn't "Watch out for the killer bees!!" or "Just for your information, there are a lot of bees around here so don't sit down on a bed of flowers or anything." Just "bees." I debated for a while and decided to turn around since it was getting late anyway. And on the way back...(let's not be surprised this happened---let's be surprised it took this long for it to happen), I got lost. Wandered around a little, freaked out a lot. After a little wandering, I saw my village in the distance. But now the question of--how to get off the mountain? I mean, you can't just walk straight down...I ended up inventing my own path and walking really carefully down (still having some ankle problems though not as bad). Anyway, I made it home after a great though unintentional work-out and vowed to be more prudent in the future. I haven't had much time for for hiking preparing for the trip home. Thursday afternoon!!!! Trying to focus on my excitement of getting out of here and not on the 6 airplanes it's going to take me to get home!!
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