A Few Hours in Arles

I realized last night that my train to Alès will pass right through Arles, so I took the earlier train and made a Nannybag reservation to allow for a few precious hours there in the afternoon. Even in the brutal heat, I love Arles. There is art everywhere!

The train station is just outside the old city wall.

The city itself is beautiful — full of light and stunning ancient architecture, with flowers and vines and artsy and/or political posters everywhere.

Oh, and they also have a 2,000 year old Roman stadium!

To get out of the heat, I went to the Van Gogh Museum — a foundation inspired by and in honor of the Dutch painter who created most of his famous works in Arles (none of which seem to belong to the museum, unfortunately — much to the dismay of many disgruntled travelers on TripAdvisor). Their current exhibit takes as its point of departure Van Gogh’s “Starry Night”.

While I was sad to not see more of Van Gogh’s works, I actually really appreciated the inventiveness of the exhibition. It included historical influences (like 18th and 19th century astronomy), artistic influences on Van Gogh, and more recent works of art that were inspired by Starry Night.

I snuck in a quick sketch at a cafe before hopping back on the train. This flamingo kept me company. (I was so sad to not make it to the Camargue! Next time...)