Camargue

I thought I should come back at least once more about my trip to the sun some short (too long) time ago.

Just south of Arles, between the two arms of the Rhône, you will find the Camargue, Western Europe’s largest delta land. You will find a mixture of lagoons (“étangs”), marshland and cultivated land.

Some 400 species of birds have their home here and it’s one of the few European habitats for the greater flamingo. Camargue is also famous for its bulls, white horses, rice, vine, salt and… mosquitoes (the birds must have something to eat). The famous white Camarguais horses are used by the local “cowboys” (“gardians”), breeding fighting bulls, used for corridas in Spain and in France. Bull fighting, Spanish style, are common in southern France and are big events often taking place in the old Roman arenas. In the immediate neighbourhood, the spring “ferias” with several days of corridas at Nîmes and Arles are highly popular. On the coast line you will find the small town of Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, with magnificent beaches and a lot of summer visitors. It’s also the site of an annual gipsy pilgrimage (May 24) for the veneration of Saint Sarah. It’s unclear who she really was, but the best known legend seems to be that Sarah was an Egyptian black maid of Marie Jacobe, sister of Virgin Mary, and Marie Salome, mother of the Apostles James and John. After the Crucifixion, Marie Jacobe and Marie Salome, accompanied by Lazarus, Mary Magdalene, Joseph of Arimathea (carrying the Holy Grail), some others… and Sarah, fled from the Holy Land and their boat landed at Saintes-Maries. You can find the statues of two Mary’s and Sarah in the local church. Van Gogh also made a short visit here in 1888 and painted some boats on the beach and some houses in the village.

The photos from this patchwork - and some others - can be found on my other blog "Peter - photos".

Arles

So I left Paris to find some blue sky… and I found it. I have been “off” for more than a week, so today I will compensate with something rather long.

I stayed a few days in Arles, in Provence, situated more or less where the Rhône River splits into two arms, embracing the delta land Camargue, before reaching the Mediterranean. Camargue is administratively actually part of Arles which makes it to the largest French commune, more than seven times the area of Paris, but with a population of some 50.000 only.

The history of Arles is too long to be told here; maybe just a few details. Arles was already a Greek city, became Celtic before being taken by the Romans 123 BC. During the Roman times it became very important and the Western Empire, including Gaul, Spain, Brittany… was governed from here. Later Arles was for a while the capital of a Frankish kingdom, which included Burgundy, parts of the present Switzerland and part of Provence. The Kingdom of Arles became part of France in the 14th century.

It is not easy to build something new in Arles; as soon as you start digging, you run into some Greek, Roman or medieval foundations and you may have to wait for years before possibly getting your permit. Among the Roman landmarks you can find the Amphitheatre, still used for concerts, the Arenas, still used for bullfights, the Constantine Thermae, a necropolis (Alyscamp)… The Church (previously Cathedral) of Saint Trophimus, with its cloister, was newly built when the Holy Roman Emperor Fredrick Barbarossa came to Arles in 1178 to be coronated.

Arles offers some important cultural and artistic activities. Editors like Harmonia Mundi and Actes Sud are based here. Arles is also a photographic centre with the French National School of Photography and exhibitions going on the whole summer. Outdoor concerts in the Amphitheatre or the Arenas are frequent.

Among some famous Arles personalities you may mention Frédéric Mistral (actually from close to Arles, Nobel Prize 1904), Christian Lacroix and Louis Féraud (fashion), Jeanne Calmant (the oldest human being whose age is documented, died in 1997 at the age of 122). It’s also the home of the Gipsy Kings.

However, the reputation of Arles is today perhaps mostly linked to Vincent van Gogh, who here produced some of his most famous paintings during his short stay 1888-89 (when Jeanne Calmant was thirteen). I compared some of his paintings with what you can find today. The Yellow House, where he lived as well as the Trinquetaille Bridge were bombed in 1944. The hospital where he stayed after cutting his ear was still in use until rather recently and the trees, flowers and the pond is still there. The “Langlois Bridge” has been rebuilt… and I replaced van Gogh’s stars by some 14th July fireworks…

During the Easter “feria” there are “corridas” in the Arenas and “encierro” (bull-running) in the streets; Picasso was a frequent visitor to the bull fighting and painted several portraits of “Arlésiennes”, as did already van Gogh.










The real pleasure with Arles is however perhaps just to walk around the streets, take a “pastis” at a bar, visit the Wednesday and Saturday markets…

The Tour de France passed by Arles yesterday.

You can see some of the originals of the above photos on my other blog "Peter - photos".