It’s about the light
Arles, France is famous for two things. First it’s ancient Roman heritage with an intact colloseum and Vincent Van Gogh who lived there for 15 months. He moved there from Paris in 1888. It’s where he painted many of his most important works including the self portrait after cutting off his ear. He checked himself into a mental hospital shortly after that incident. The colloseum was built in 90 CE.
This is the recreated cafe from the painting and notice it’s called Cafe Van Gogh. Tourists have flocked to this restaurant (including me several years ago) though it was
shut down in 2023 for tax evasion.
The yellow house on the left was van Gogh’s house but is no longer in existence and the center image should be known to everyone. It’s referred to as “The Bedroom” but should be titled “Bedroom in Arles”. The painting on the right should give you a sense of what was happening to Van Gogh at that time. Notice the strange lights and that pool table that looks like it’s just going to slide right on to your lap. Notice the amount of yellow in all these works. Van Gogh was consumed with the brightness he found in Arles.
Interestingly Van Gogh did not paint any of the Roman ruins and focused on portraying activities of simple lives; people going about their business, portraits of the people he encountered on a daily basis, and peasants in the fields. He also had collected a large number of Japanese prints that were just making an appearance in Europe so the light and color of those inspired him as well.
Van Gogh painted many landscapes during his time in Arles and yes there are pink flamingos in the salt marshes that are a feature of the camargue region. The camargue is one of Europe’s major wetland regions of extensive salt marsh, lakes, pastures, and sand dunes.
Aigues Mortes was built in 1248 as a sailing point for King Louis IX for launching his crusade. This makes for a great example of false advertisting as the picture on the left does not exist in reality. Yes, it was built as a seaport until the Rhone receded and left a silted up fairly non descript walled enclave. In its heyday it was fortified. Now its gates are wide open with rampart to rampart gift shops as you see on the right.
Montpellier is close to the Mediterranean (about 10 km away) and feels like it. The palm trees and bright blue sky make you feel like you aren’t in Paris anymore. The historic district of neo classical buildings is mostly intact. It was a hotbed of the resistance during WW2 and many people fled Vichy France to there for protection. However, it was invaded by the Nazis who wrecked havoc on the people but the city was mostly left unscathed.
Sete is called the Venice of France and you can see why. It is mostly made up of canals and is an important fishing center. The first two images show Sete today and the third one is a postcard from pre WW2 Sete. The city was mostly devastated during the war by bombardment of the Allies and then destruction of infrastructure by the Germans as they retreated. It takes some imagination to think about its former heyday. For anyone interested in Jewish history, Sete is the location from which the Exodus sailed to British held Palestine to break the blockade and allow refugees. They failed though eventually most were settled there after Israel achieved independence. It’s one of those historic finds one comes upon unexpectedly.
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