Arles et Les Bateux

I had a big day Tuesday, two major excursions. 

The morning tour in Arles was a great walk in the footsteps of Vincent Van Gogh in Provence, where he spent a couple of years visiting and painting in the south of France because he “liked the light.” 

The afternoon tour was to the tiny mountain-top town of Les Bateaux. But the highlight of the afternoon was the sound and light presentation at a nearby abandoned limestone quarry, La Lumière. 

Arles

The riverside town of Arles (say AWRL) has a couple of major draws. 

One is the Roman Colosseum, where various forms of bull fighting are still practiced. It is only a short distance from here to Spain, after all, so the Spanish influence is very strong  In one form, held only two weekends a year, the fight is traditional and the bull is killed. In the other, young boys tease the bull, running past it, trying to grab a ribbon tied between the horns without being gored. It’s quite exciting, and if you are interested, there are videos available on YouTube (of course).

But our group was in Arles to learn more about Vincent Van Gogh (in France they say Van “GAWKCH”) and the life he lived here after “escaping” Paris. He was, apparently, a very difficult personality with whom to deal, and he was not generally well-liked. But during his time here, his painting was quite prolific, and he painted many local scenes. Below are a couple of examples, but my main photograph is of the original VG called the One-Eyed Man, painted when he was staying at a local insane asylum, where he had agreed to go. The subject was another inmate of the asylum.

The Red Poppy Field is another original VG, in the museum at Arles. 

I’ve included a couple of my photos next to the paintings that he had done:

The local cafe where he hung out with Paul Gauguin.

The hospital where he was treated after cutting off his ear following an argument with Gauguin.

The house where he lived while staying in Arles.
(The shorter building in front is gone now, destroyed by an Allied bomb during World War II.)

Other shots from Arles:

By The Coliseum

Street Scenes and Food Markets

The main city square

Les Bateaux

The small village of Les Bateaux (“lay bah TOO”) is charming as an attraction all by itself. 

But the real attraction in the area that draws thousands of people is a sound and light presentation called La Lumiere (“lah loo-me-YAY”). This incredible experience of the senses is located in an underground limestone quarry, abandoned for years, and put to good use by this amazing creation, in our case, of computer animations of paintings of Venetian history. It completely overwhelms the senses, and my poor attempts to create any videos of it will fail to give you anything more than a mere notion of what I experienced.

The Quarry

The Quarry Comes to Life
(try to ignore the screaming baby)

The Rhône at Avignon (Panoramic)

My last full day aboard the AmaKristina is a relaxed morning followed by an afternoon excursion to a farm where we will see how dogs are trained to find, but not eat, truffles. 

With an early morning departure tomorrow to go to the Avignon train station, to catch a train to Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris, to catch a flight to Chicago, followed by a flight to Arizona, it will be just over 24 hours of uninterrupted travel time. So this is probably my last post while still traveling. I will try to do a final update once I’m back home. 

Merci again for sticking this out with me. I’ve enjoyed reading your texted questions and comments, and some from fellow travelers. This trip has been a really cool experience. I’ve learned a lot, met some really nice people, had too much good food, and have learned to appreciate how much even the smallest towns in our world have to offer us. 

A Bientôt, see you soon.

Jay

Postscript, August 2025:

In going back over this, I'm disappointed to see that I never did a wrap-up, a look back. The trip home mostly went well, but the COVID I caught somewhere along the way manifested itself as we crossed the Atlantic. Coughed all the way across the Atlantic. By the time I got to Phoenix, I was really pretty sick. Standing elbow to elbow in crowded trains probably did me in.

Overall, though, I had a wonderful trip and established many great relationships. I MUST return to Paris and I MUST take more river cruises. AMAWaterways is a great way to go, but not the least expensive.

After three years, I'm not sure anyone will be reading this. I have other blogs (see below) that are more current. Thanks for visiting.

2013 Safari in Tanzania and Kenya
(my first blogging attempt)

2022 Paris and Rhone River Tour

2023 Egypt, Land of the Pharaohs

2024 Safari in Southern Africa

2025 Morocco Tour

2025 Mediterranean Discovery Cruise

2025 The Italian Riviera and The Dolomiti (coming soon)

 Argentina, Patagonia, Chile  (Coming in 2026)