Arles is famous for its Roman theater and arena, which is still used for concerts, performances, and bullfighting (!) It was built in 90 AD and still seems to be in remarkably good shape. We didn't get a chance to go in, so here's the profile.
The sight of this famous café kicked off "Van Gogh day," one of the highlights of the entire trip for this fan. There was no starry night serving as a backdrop, of course, but it was still unmistakably familiar.
We spent our few minutes of free time in Arles wandering the cute little streets and posing on fountains.
[In between Arles and the next set of photos from Saint-Rémy we went to Les-Baux-de-Provence, a lovely town built on a rocky hillside where bauxite was first discovered. Unfortunately, we failed to take any pictures worth sharing]
As I've already mentioned, I really enjoyed the Van Gogh-related parts of this trip. We were privileged to visit Saint-Rémy, site of a monastery that has served as a psychiatric hospital for many years, including while Van Gogh was a patient there. I say we were "privileged" because the facility doesn't usually allow large tour groups to visit, but they made an exception for us. Throughout the buildings and grounds you can find renditions of paintings mounted at the site where they were painted. For instance, during iris season, you can see the blooms that Van Gogh made famous.
A statue of the famous artist himself, welcoming groups to Saint Rémy. His legacy seems to be a big part of the hospital's identity. Current patients paint as part of the therapeutic process and the hospital sells their pieces in its gift shop.
Our tour guide told us that Van Gogh moved to this region because he was attracted by the Provençal light. Not being a painter myself, I wasn't sure that I'd be able to really see what he saw, but I did indeed! It was hard to get a picture that could really do justice to the warm, golden light. The best adjective I could come up with to describe it was "Van Gogh-y."
[We also made a stop in the small fishing town of Cassis, but, again, managed to not get any photos worth sharing]
Our final destination was Avignon, seat of popes and antipopes during the Catholic schism of the 14th century. Mark had told me several years ago that he'd love to one day visit the papal palace in Avignon, so he was thrilled to be there and was only somewhat disappointed with our tour guide's (très French) version of the events leading up to and resulting from the schism. I made sure to ask him to tell me the other side of the story later.
Colorful, original tiles in the papal bedroom
And that concluded our time in the south of France! Although leaving for the field trip so shortly after we arrived in Lausanne made for a slightly strange second week on the job for Mark, I'm glad that we were able to do it. In addition to the sights and wonderful, warm weather (and Provençal light!), we really enjoyed getting to know the students and staff better. Next up: back to life in Lausanne.
