This morning, we rented bikes locally and rode along the Rhone before connecting to a nearby canal path that heads south. Agricultural fields border the canal and path. Nice spring day for a ride.
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| The canal |
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| The bike path and fellow traveler |
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| Agriculture |
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| French poppies! |
Along our stretch of the Rhone River, there are a couple of giant pieces of wood that have been sculpted into seating. As there are lots of artists in the area, these pieces are regularly re-painted with vibrant colors.
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| The artist in the act |
The other day, one artist was painting this piece. I waited until he was finished, and this is what it now looks like.
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| Detail of the fish that were just painted |
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| An elephant's head with its trunk visible |
Today we visited the exhibit in the Festival du Dessin at the Musee Departemental Arles Antique.
One featured artist was Oskar Kokoschka, an Austrian who lived from 1886 to 1980. His works displayed simplicity of lines.
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| Study for Valarie Lady Goulding, 1947 |
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| Edith Rosenheim, 1922 |
Felix Vallotton, a French artist who lived from 1865 to 1925, was also featured. The works in this installation were all woodcut engravings. They reflected life in the late 19th century.
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| The Wind Gust, 1894 |
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| The Downpour, 1894 |
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| From the series The Musical Instruments 1886 The guitar The piano The violin The flute The cello Le piston (the trumpet?) |
And outside the Musee, a jackdaw, a small French crow.
This gray morning, we visited the exhibits at Croisiere. This installation had lots of cartoons and many other forms of art. Quite interesting.
Here are a few pieces that I liked.
Two cartoons by Georges Wolinski (who was killed in the Charlie Hebdo attack in 2015):
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| I'm going to kill myself. Graduate first! |
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| Dear, I present to you the man that I would like to be. Not bad! |
An illustration by Daniel Goosens:
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| But why did I rent this hole? |
A political cartoon by Guido Busselli entitled Charles and Diana's engagement (1987):
And a scratch-board drawing of Canyon de Chelly by Thomas Ott (from his Route 66 Series):
We started in Aigues Mortes, circled the walled city, then rode to the coast along the canal and west. Mostly clear, a nice temperature, and not too much wind. We finished riding in Aigues Mortes, and stopped near the main Place for lunch.
Here are a few photos taken in Aigues Mortes
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| The statue of Saint Louis, who launched his crusades from Aigues Mortes. |
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| A spouting fish at the base of Saint Louis' statue |
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| The Tour de Constance |
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| The top of the wall above the northeast gate |
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| An icon displayed just above the NE gate |
This year, we avoided spending any time in Paris, because of the insanity associated with it hosting the Olympics in July and August. And yet, here in Arles, we have been virtually trapped in our neighborhood since yesterday afternoon due to road closures and parking restrictions that are in place until 8 PM tonight because the Olympic Flame is coming to town.
Cars were being towed.
Big celebrations are planned.
In Arles, the flame was starting out at the Museum of Antiquities. Here are some of the decorations that they put up for the event.
The flame (parade) has now moved past us. Here's some of what we saw.
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| The passing of the flame from the first runner to the second. |
Here are a few short clips of a group that was busking at the market today. One clip shows the musicians, the other shows their view of the market.
Today we headed down to les Saintes Maries de la Mer to rent bikes and ride along the dike road, to the lighthouse. We have made this ride at least once or twice a visit, and always enjoy seeing the wildlife along the way. We saw 2 snakes and one lizard crossing the road, but mostly we watched the birds.
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| The Camargue marsh |
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| One end of our ride, the lighthouse |
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| A few other cyclists at the lighthouse |
We saw terns and gulls, stilts and avocets, a small group of phalaropes, several egrets, and lots of flamingoes.
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| Flamingos in the marsh |
The Mediterranean seems to be encroaching on the road, and as a result lots of huge rocks have been brought it to stabilize the dike.
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| Back to les Stes. Maries de la Mer, with the Mediterranean on the left. |
I'm always fascinated with gargoyles. Below, you will find one that I saw today and two from yesterday.
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| At Saint Trophime's cloisters |
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| At the Musee Reattu |
And the bell tower above the Saint Trophime's cloisters, with the bells ringing.
Today is a holiday in France, Victory in Europe Day (when the Germans surrendered, ending WW II). So we weren't surprised to see lots of people out walking around. However, when we started seeing women dressed in Arlesian costumes, we thought that something else was being celebrated.
When we rounded the corner into the Place du Forum we started seeing men on chevals blancs (white horses that are typical of the Camargue region.)
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| The flag bearers at the beginning of the parade |
A few minutes later we were watching a parade of at least 100 chevals blancs, most of which were carrying a male rider and a woman or girl dressed in Arlesian costume of the late 19th century. It was quite remarkable, in that it happened in the heart of the old city. The parade appeared to be heading to the Arena. A day later, we learned this was the prelude to crowning the Queen of Arles.
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| Some of the young people in the parade |
A couple of days ago, I specifically asked at the tourist office if there were any big celebrations that were planned for Victory in Europe Day. I was told NO, just the laying of some wreaths by the mayor. So we didn't know about this great parade ahead of time, we just stumbled upon it. Serendipity strikes again!
This morning we visited Espace Van Gogh, which was a hospital at the time (1888) when Vincent Van Gogh cut off his ear. This is where he was brought. He painted the jardin (garden).
The complex now contains a library, gift shops, and exhibition space. Tourists and school groups regularly visit this space.
Today, we visited the Festival du Dessin installation at Espace Van Gogh. There were lots of interesting and some humorous drawings on display. This is one example: Le Stryge (one of the gargoyles atop Notre Dame, in Paris), by Charles Meryon (in 1853). Although he was a talented artist, Meryon was colorblind, so he only produced etchings. And he had to work at hard labor to earn a living.
