The exhibition before the exhibition was filling up rather quickly.
And while I do have a very special attachment to the Chapelle des Trinitaires, as it is where Remi and I had our thunderbolt “we should live here” moment, I felt a little lost amidst the bisous of acquaintances and the getting caught up after summer banter.
However, I was delighted by an old image of the Antique Theatre, taken at the beginning of the renovation process, so late in the game, time-speaking. How much, nearly all of this grand structure had been pillaged. Stone to stone to be somewhere else, something else entirely after the fall of the Roman Empire and the trumpet’s blare arrival of Christianity in Arles. We build up, we tear down, we build again, we move on.
My friend Christine touched my arm and zapped me out of my reverie. We continued along the panels depicting the efforts to support the blue vein of Heritage running through Arles until we stumbled upon a small door opening out of the church…
…and into a courtyard. Remi came to join us, echoing our smiles in his discovery. Somehow, in the very center of town, we had fallen into an unknown place. And yet, apparently not so secret after all as a restaurant that I had dismissed as “for unwitting tourists” had many a table awaiting under the fairy lights. “It is quite decent actually, très correcte,” Christine nodded. “We should go one day for lunch.”
I took in this nearly imaginary corner with a gulp. The massive, over-laden pear tree with such beautiful fruit tumbled in the grass, the many layers of centuries shifting the architecture of the chapel with adds and minuses plus one very fortunate terrace overlooking it all with drying sheets flapping through what were once medieval windows. To my left, down a short flight of stairs was a side entry to the Hôtel Dieu, the hospital where Vincent Van Gogh was treated. Did he walk in this secret garden too?
Enjoy your time in Provence, Nicole! The weather couldn't be finer, so happy that you are here now…so glad that my posts are adding to the ambiance. 🙂
Oh my David, yet again, I truly owe you one for the very hearty laughter and have been composing my reply. It begins: "Dear Madame, as you come from such a very young country, one where women like yourself feel compelled to Botox their foreheads until they gleam with the shine of a new muffin-tin pan, it is not to be expected that you could appreciate the finer points of patina (yes, do "Google" that) from an esteemed and ancient country such as La France…" or something like that. I was having fun but will stop. 🙂
Again, you always have a sixth sense for just when I need a smile–I was up most of the night with a bad stomach ache, my fault for buying that industrially made "salmon" sandwich instead of making my own–and while this further jostled my belly, it was fine medecine.
Bisous.
This comment has been removed by the author.
Parts of this post reminded me of the old exhortation, 'What you spend years building may be torn down overnight. Build anyway.'
You have a gorgeous life, H.
How neat is that!!!!!!!!I am so jealous!You are surrounded by BEAUTY!
Go Go eat there…….and tell us how it was.
Those buildings have wabi-sabi.
I love to read your thoughts on buildings & places. & know exactly how you feel when you don't go to certain places because you think it's only for the tourists. I too feel like that where I live, but sometimes it's nice to be a tourist in your own home territory. Great photos, love the one capturing the sheets drying.
What a lovely place to find.
I imagine the inhabitants after the fall of the Roman Empire pillaged stones from anywhere to build their farms. That's the way of humans, isn't it? Build, tear down, build again.
The first photo with the dark sky and the golden stone – sensational!
Heather, Arles was one of the highlights of our trip to Provence. I haven't written about it yet because with so much to say, there are almost no words. You know? I hope to go back someday, but until then, I'm so grateful that I get to return through these beautiful glimpses that you share.
Happy Monday! XO
I always enjoy your thoughtful and evocative descriptions- they do resonate.
I am in the area at the moment and am appreciating them even more
Nicole