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| Fontaine Amédée Pichot - Arles, France Copyright Andy Richards 2026 - All Rights Reserved |
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| Fontaine Amédée Pichot (Ame'dee Pichot Fountain) - Arles, France Copyright Andy Richards 2026 - All Rights Reserved |
THE PHOTOS above are of a fountain (on the front of the building) designed and built in 1888. It is what you see first as you walk into the city from the northern entrance. But before we even got to the entrance of the city, we spent some time on the bank of the Rhone just in front of what is now the Arles Rhone Cruise and River Port.
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| Arles, France from the bank of The Rhone Copyright Andy Richards 2026 - All Rights Reserved |
ARLES ACTUALLY has a pretty impressive river port. We got a chance to see it only because our Viking Coaches parked there for the beginning and end of our walking tour of the city. I am not sure how many low bridges there are between Avignon and Arl, but it only takes one. For some reason, the Lofn chose our first night at our Avignon stop to decide its hydraulics for raising and lowering the equipment would give out. They announced this on the first night of our cruise, while we were supposed to be cruising. The repair parts wouldn't arrive until the next day, so they would bus us to nearby Arl. Good news: if we wanted, we had another night in Avignon. Bad news, we were supposed to be cruising and - presumably - seeing the sights. Having had a good dose of Avignon, we chose to stay aboard and exerience our first dinner in the dining room. Our travel companions (we started out as a group of 8) had not yet arrived, due to substantial flight delays. The two we had not yet met, it turns out, were actually in the dining room, just one table over and I happened to notice them (from photos I had seen) as I made a restroom trip. So we met them and got a chance to get to know them. The other 4 didn't make it until quite late - maybe 11:00 p.m. But I digress 😀.
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| This is the view of Arles, France from the bank of The Rhone that served as the motivation for Vincent van Gogh's "Starry Night" Painting in 1888 Copyright Andy Richards 2026 - All Rights Reserved |
THE VIEW from the Arles cruise port happens to be famous. It is the view where Vincent van Gogh is said to have painted his famous "Starry Night Over the Rhone" painting. Of course I had to make a few shots from there. And of course, I had to try my (admittedly clumsy) hand at my own post-impressionist take on the shot.
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| My post-impressionist "take" on van Gogh's "Starry Night" Copyright Andy Richards 2026 - All Rights Reserved |
AS OLD and majestic as Avignon is, Arles show its true Medieval "bones." Dating back, to the First Century, BC, Arles today features well - preserved Roman ruins, including an impressive ampitheatre, a Roman Theatre, and ancient baths. In the center square there is an obelisk dating back to the late 17th Century. We were not able to enter the Roman Theatre, or the baths, but we did go inside the Ampitheatre. But it is really a more impressive view from the outside in my opinion. Of note: we learned that it is most emphatically not a "coliseum!" Apparently there is only one Coliseum, and that is in Rome. Others are (merely?) ampitheatres. We walked by the Roman Theatre and the Baths, but my photos from the exterior just don't do them justice.
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| Arles Ampitheatre - Arles, France Copyright Andy Richards 2026 - All Rights Reserved. |
TO SAY Arles is picturesque is an understatement. Indeed, it has enough promise that it served as a spot frequented by some of history's most famous artists including Paul Gauguin, Pablo Picasso, and - perhaps most famously - "Dutch Master" Vincent van Gogh. Surprisingly, van Gogh only lived in Arles for one year (1888 - 1889), but produced more than 300 works during that period! It must have made a major impression (pun intended 😏) as The van Gogh Foundation has its headquarters in Arles.
Surprisingly, van Gogh only lived in Arles for one year (1888 - 1889), but produced more than 300 works during that period
I THINK one of the primary factors that attracts me to impressionism and post-impressionism is the artists (somewhat new for the times) embrace of bright colors. I suspect that as much as it is an inspiration by the artists of the periods, it may well also have to do with the development and availabilty of newer and brighter pigments used in their oils. In any event, I have often (perhaps monotonously so) said here that I am attracted to color. And bright colors were a hallmark of these periods. Vincent van Gogh is particularly associated with yellow, and the famous house he lived in while in Arles was painted bright yellow. Sadly it was destroyed by bombings during WWII. Also destroyed was a bright yellow cafe that served as the basis for his "Cafe' la Soir," a/k/a "Cafe' Terrace At Night," painting. The cafe pictured here is a replica. I am not sure when it was built or if it even existed when van Gogh was in Arles, but it is in the heart of the old Medieval City and certainly does van Gogh's style and memory justice.
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| Van Gogh Cafe - Arles, France Copyright Andy Richards 2026 |
SITUATED ON a small square just off the main town square, the center is full of colorful flowers, certain to have attracted van Gogh, as well as many other painters of the period. It is easy to see why. It certainly pulled my photographic eye!
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| Garden Square in front of van Gogh Cafe - Arles, France Copyright Andy Richards 2026 |
JUST WALKING around the city, you can see that, in addition to the Roman Ruins, the adjacent areas are charming and inviting. The first image below is one I saw as we walked toward the Ampitheatre. As always, the color and shapes drew my eye. It is especially notable, as it is surrounded by the rather monotone stone construction surrounding it. The second image is what you immediately see as you exit the Ampitheatre.
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| Arles, France Copyright Andy Richards 2026 - All Rights Reserved |
THIS WAS my first experience with Viking's "included" tours. Something new to us: when you enter your stateroom aboard a Viking Ship, there are two "walkie-talkie" type gadgets with earpieces in a charger. You are expected to bring those along on all Viking excursions (and remember to put them on the charger when you return to your room). My first experience with one of these was on our walking tour of Lucerne, Switzerland a couple years back. I quickly learned that I really like them. If they are in range there is no struggling to hear the guide and I even find that I can stray a bit with my camera and still keep an "eye" on where my group is. The Viking tours themselves tend to be either walking tours or "panoramic" (euphemism for bus), and range from generally very good to occasionally not so much. This one was very good. Our guide was excellent (though ironically, she was British) and gave us a great history of the place, with a generous, but not dominating, peppering of art and in particular, van Gogh's art.
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| Arles, France Copyright Andy Richards 2026 |
THERE IS one other thing that is perhaps not so well known about Arles. It is a city that celebrates photography and photographers. Since 1970, it has been the location of Les Countres d'Arless, an international photography festival, which lasts from early July to early October (which means it was actually going on while we were there). The photographic scope of the festival goes well beyond the "landscape" genre one might expect to be the focus in a place like Arles. There is evidence of photography as a general medium, with styles and genre of avery kind and scope. I don't know if this guy was part of the festival, but his "studio" setup directly across from the Roman Theatre entrance certainly aroused my curiousity.
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| "Traditional" Phototgrapher in Arles, France Copyright Andy Richards - All Rights Reserved |
THE PHOTOGRAPHS below were part of an exhibit along the outdoor walls of a building just beyond the theatre as we walk on through Arles. Our guide made passing mention of them. I am not sure she was familiar with the festival as she did not mention it. I would like to have seen more of it. Had we sailed to Arles as scheduled, there may have been time for me to remain in town and do a bit more exploring. As it was, we moved on. But I did get a chance to shoot a couple of portraits and make a composite of two that I liked.
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| Photography Exibit - Arles, France Copyright Andy Richards 2026 - All Rights Reserved |
LOOKING BACK on the trip as a whole, some of our first visits to "little-known" spots (to me, anyway) and small, but historically significant places, were probably the true highlight of the trip for me. We would return to our coaches, and back to the ship, and would finally sail away from Avignon, upriver to points north. Bound next for Viviers, another very small, not well-known Medieval community, we would first make a short stop in Vienne, where some of us would take a night walking tour, before the ship moved on overnight to Viviers.
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