Arles

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On our last full day in Avignon we drove to Arles (about 40 minutes south of Avignon) to see more Roman ruins. Arles was established by the Greeks as early as the 6th century BC under the name of Theline. The town then was captured by the Celtic Salluvii in 535 BC, who renamed it to Arelate. The Romans took the town in 123 BC and expanded it into an important city, with a canal link to the Mediterranean Sea being constructed in 104 BC. The Rhone River forks into two branches just upstream of Arles, forming the Camargue delta.

Until railroad rendered boat traffic nearly obsolete, Arles remained a bustling port city. Recently (report published during our trip), archeological divers found the oldest preserved bust of Julius Caesar (dating to 46 BC) and many other precious artifacts from the 1st Century AD (including bronze sculptures and a large marble sculpture of Neptune) in Rhone River near Arles - more dives are planned. The city boasts a beautiful amphitheater (a UNESCO World Heritage Site) which is in the process of being cleaned and restored. While it not as large or complete as the structure in Nimes, the Arles amphitheater is also beautiful.

More recently (late 19th century), Arles was an attractive destination for the painter Vincent van Gogh, who arrived there on 21 February 1888. He was fascinated by the Provencal landscapes, producing over 300 paintings and drawings during his time in Arles. Many of his most famous paintings were completed there, including The Night Cafe, the Yellow Room, Starry Night Over the Rhone, and L'Arlesienne. Paul Gauguin visited van Gogh in Arles. However, van Gogh's mental health deteriorated and he became alarmingly eccentric, culminating in the infamous ear-severing incident in December 1888. The concerned Arlesians circulated a petition the following February demanding that van Gogh be confined. In May 1889 he took the hint and left Arles for the asylum at nearby Saint-Remy-de-Provence.

We had a fabulously fresh lunch at a tiny bistro in Arles and then Dana did some major damage at an interior design store and a clothing boutique.