If it’s Friday, it must be France …
I know … I’m sneaking in under the wire to still post this on Friday. On top of that, I’m kind of taking the easy way out today – but by accident. Honest! I didn’t know these incredible websites existed until a few hours ago.
First I wanted to explain how to pronounce Arles correctly. The most common mistake that North Americans make is they pronounce the “s” and that is just SO not cool. Don’t pronounce the “s” at the end of any French towns ( um, except for a few exceptions … in fact, hardly ever on any French words but then you run into more exceptions and that’s a whole other story … we don’t even want to get into that now … ).
So one day our fabulous friends Christian, Lucille and Hubert (with whom we spent such lovely times in France last summer), gave us a pronunciation lesson for Arles. I was going to explain it to you and then I found this website. Click here! Ha! Just place the mouse on the word “Arles” and you will hear the correct way to say it! Amazing! What’s better is you won’t have to put up with me blathering on, attempting to explain it.
Today I wanted to share with you some more of Vincent Van Gogh’s history in Arles and that’s exactly what I’m going to do. BUT … I can hardly accept any credit for compiling this information. As I began my research, I came across a most impressive website about that very topic. The Web is just SO amazing, n’est-ce pas?
If you are in a hurry right now, wait until you have a few minutes and come back to this page. In fact, wait until you have time to bring along a glass of wine or a pastis or a cup of tea or whatever your beverage of choice, so you can just relax and enjoy this. Honest … you’ll love it …
First click on the video here, take a long sip, relax and enjoy … mmmmm …
Wasn’t that beautiful?
Now when you have more time, check out this site below. I’ve already sent them an e-mail thanking them for doing all my work!
Please click here and visit the VanGoghGallery.com to see a finer selection of photographs of Arles than I could ever provide. A painting of Van Gogh is shown alongside a photo of how that same scene looks today. It’s surprising how much of this beautiful town and area has not changed. As you can see, there is a load of fantastic information on this website. I hope you enjoy it as much as I have today. I did spend a lot of time on this when I should have been writing but … c’est la vie! It was worth it and I will catch up tomorrow.
Thanks to Carrie Spencer, our resident WordPress expert from our Wana blogging group, I do know how to set up a slideshow now. Oh, was I excited to receive her simple instructions! I’ll save my Arles slideshow for next Friday as I’ve taken up enough of your time today.
When we visit Arles, we always have a drink or a meal at the Van Gogh café and toast to Vincent and the beauty he left the world in spite of his tormented soul. RIP.
In fact, as I’m typing this, my DH just brought us a glass of wine and we are toasting Vincent again and listening to the Don McLean song for the umpteenth time today. Santé!
Have you visited Arles? If you are planning a trip to France, be sure to include this town. Are you a Van Gogh fan and do you have a favourite amongst his paintings? I love to hear from you so feel free to leave a comment!
That website is really great comparing the paintings to the actual locations. Love it. But I love the video even more! What a great job they did on that. I admire all of Van Gogh’s paintings, but if I had to choose one it would be Starry Night-loved it since the first time I saw it as a child. Looking forward to your slideshow. I went to Carrie’s site and got the directions, too. I’d been wondering how to do that. Great post, Patricia.
I’m a huge fan of Van Gogh’s work since I visited the gallery in Amsterdam 6 years ago. Came away with three gorgeous late prints of his work that I’ve had framed and hanging in my lounge. Particular favourite is Wheatfield under thunderclouds (1890)
Xx
The gallery in Amsterdam is very special, isn’t it? I’m sure you get a lot of pleasure from your framed pieces!
What a wonderful way for me to finish my evening after a busy, fun filled weekend. I enjoyed the video so much, I remember when that song was on the radio. Yep, I’m that old. LOL The Arles site with the photos side-by-side is addicting. I’ll need to go back and look at some more pages. I have to say that I can’t decide if The Terrace Cafe or Starry Night is my favorite.
I’m looking forward to your slideshow!
I remember when that song was first released too!
I love the video. I am honestly very naive and uncultured when it comes to art etc so I really appreciate you giving me some lessons. Soo beautiful and it warmed my heart. I can’t wait to see the slideshow.
Thank you for bringing a little bit of culture into my life…muah! xox
Muah! right back! Glad you enjoyed it!
I do so love your Friday France blog posts, as you well know! I’ve only been home for three days and already I am so nostalgic. When I was in Paris the two friends I was with had both just come up from Provence. One studied art at university and the other photography, and we were all three of us big fans of Van Gogh even in high school together. They had spent a deal of time in Arles, and basically traced many of Van Gogh’s steps all around the south. Musee d’Orsay has some wonderful paintings of his, so ALIVE when you are in front of the real thing. I missed out on any art visits when I later headed south with the family (the two 13yo girls chorusing “no way!” to anything art-related except for charging through the Louvre to see the Mona Lisa), so thank you for the slide and link sharing here!
Thanks! I’m loving your post-trip blogs and am thrilled to think of all your magic memories. Did you manage to stop in Biot? I was so disappointed the church was closed for restorative work!
I have always been drawn to Van Gogh’s art. I remember when I was in high school, my mom was finishing up her university degree. One of the subjects of her studies was modern art. I recall reading her art books — that’s how my Van Gogh fascination began 🙂
As an artist yourself Angela, do you feel you have been influenced by Van Gogh and his peers?
I’ve always been fascinated by Vincent Van Gogh, his art and life story. I’m a passionate art lover (daughter and granddaughter of fabulous artists, I can’t draw a straight line, but I do love and admire art so much :)) and I enjoy visitng galleries and exhibitions when I travel. Thank you for bringing me back to Arles and reminding me of the beautiful paintings, Patricia!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
Hello Jean, thanks for stopping by. I would definitely recommend you start with the free version of WordPress. You have a tremendous variety of “themes” from which to choose and WordPress is very user-friendly, with an excellent support program. I did not switch to the paid WordPress until a few months ago when we were combining my entire website plus my blog. Good luck as you begin blogging and don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any other questions. Blogging can be quite daunting in the beginning and it takes a while to get established. Cheers!