Patricia Sands

Author

living in the south of France

When the tech stuff tanks, take a stroll …

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If it’s Friday, It must be France …

For whatever reason, I simply cannot download my slideshow of Arles onto this page. I’ll keep working on it.

In the meantime, join me on one of my early morning strolls through our home base of Antibes.

 

Our front yard.

 

Pass through the one original remaining gate in the 500 year-old walls that once enclosed the entire village.

 

Stroll the narrow cobblestone streets.

 

No agenda necessary. Imagine Napoleon attempting to convince new recruits to join his campaign or Picasso rushing through town to his studio.

 

To the other side of the old town. My favourite view of le vieux village.

 

Plan to end up at the daily market with an empty basket to fill.

Where are your favourite places to walk where you live? Do you celebrate your surroundings or would you rather be living elsewhere? Tell me about it.

 

 

 

Van Gogh in Arles

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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!

It’s worth the drive to Arles

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If it’s Friday, it must be France …

We’re taking a little side trip today to Arles, just  a 2-1/2 hour drive  from Antibes and the French Riviera to the area (département) known as the Bouches-du-Rhône (great info and pics on this site). The changing scenery from La Côte D’Azur,  through the dramatic red rock hills of Le Massif De L’Estérel, alongside vineyards and farmland in the Var, guarantees the time on the A8 autoroute passes quickly.

Wow! You’ll be glad you came along. Arles is a UNESCO World Heritage site dating back to the 7th Century BC when it was a major Roman-Gallo city (Arelate). Built on the edge of the Rhone River where it branches into two parts to the sea, established its importance as a port.To say it is a treasure trove of well-preserved  Roman sites would be an understatement.

Charmingly medieval streets, narrow and winding, pass between ancient buildings. Who can resist them? Not me!

The major Roman sites, such as the Arena and the Theater, are uniquely integrated into the houses and buildings of the town, and used today for concerts, plays, and even bullfights … gulp, yes still … more on that next week and modern changes to the ancient sport. Also I’ll fill you in on Van Gogh’s stay in Arles – as colorful as his paintings, let me assure you!

I’ll just include this teaser now . One memorable evening, Vincent Van Gogh chased his friend, artist Paul Gauguin, down the street holding a razor. Um … there’s a reason for the bandage in this self-protrait.

Van Gogh’s stay in Arles was relatively short but he still managed to complete over 200 paintings while there.

Here’s a quick look at the Arena. I’m going to figure out how to include a slideshow for next week. I hope you will plan to drop by for that.

 

 

 

Have you ever been to Arles? You know I love to hear from you so please share a memory or two. À bientôt!

Actually it’s Saturday and it’s Toronto …

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If It’s Friday, It Must Be France … 

Sorry I’m late with this … yesterday was a little busy …

Although our idyll in France is over and we returned to Toronto yesterday, I’m going to continue posting about the south of France for a while longer. I receive a lot of e-mails about these posts with great questions and I’m happy to keep sharing information and my photos. People seem to prefer sending e-mails to leaving comments and that’s just fine with me. I’ll get back to you either way … avec plaisir!

All summer in France we intended to go and see the Woody Allen movie “Midnight In Paris” at one of the English movie theatres in Nice. Somehow we never got around to it. It seemed kind of fitting then, as I settled into my seat for the flight to Toronto from France yesterday that this was one of my movie choices. I loved it!

First of all, the camera caresses Paris throughout the film and truly gives you a sense of being there. Secondly, the main character writes screenplays and is an aspiring novelist. Hmm, a lot to which I could relate. I had no idea of any other details although I had read in the Nice-Matin (my morning French lesson newspaper) that Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, the wife of the President of France, had a small role. They seemed quite proud of that.

The fact that other artists and writers factored into the story in such an interesting way was a completely delightful surprise. This isn’t a film for adventure seekers or a chick flick. Funny and charming, it’s a romantic comedy – a love story about a city and a culture as  much as about some people who have very different views of what is important in life.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atLg2wQQxvU

That takes care of the movie part of this post. Now for the music. A French friend told me about a popular singer here called Zaz and I was SO glad she did! I’ve been playing her music on my morning walks all summer. This song is my favourite and I was amazed to find a video showing english lyrics. It’s fun and energizing and  a great motivator in the morning!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stbR3z-Cz68

Now that we’ve looked at some recent entertainment from France, here’s the beloved Edith Piaf to take us back to the past.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZPXbKoRfIk&feature=related

Next Friday, this blog will be visiting the beautiful town of Arles. I hope you will be along! Is there some place in the south of France you would like to know more about? I’m always happy to share information, photos or answer any questions you may have.