Day 9 – settling in to Provence…

Again, I am not the last one ready to leave the house. In fact, I am the first one ready to leave the house. I may not have been the first one up, but I was dressed and had my face on first. I don’t know what it is about being here but I fear I might turn into a … ghads…morning person. Is there a doctor in the house?

So anyway… coffee, yogurt etc… and off we go. Today we start near the town of Baux. Only about 20 min away by Sean the GPS’ directions. It is a tiny town perched amongst the rocky outcroppings in the area. The rock that contains aluminum was discovered here in 1821 thus the word Bauxite for aluminum ore.

There is a large bauxite mine just outside of town that has been turned into an amazing art venue. Carrieres de Lumieres. Right now they have an exhibit of Marc Chagall. An artist near and dear to our hearts and sensibilities. It is not a walk around and look at paintings kind of experience, it is a down the rabbit hole you are in the paintings kind of experience. Inside the old bauxite mine are perhaps 100 high power projectors and a sound system to match. Animated versions of the art are projected on the 50 foot high walls and pillars as well as the floor and the ceiling while music comes from all around. It is mesmerizing. We were looking forward to this for months and it did not disappoint.

There was also a short presentation of an homage to Alice in Wonderland. Talk about ‘down the rabbit hole’… I came away with some interesting ideas for our next season production at GRB…

We grabbed a venue cafe quiche and some coffee . Very palatable … better than most venue food. Nuf said. Fortified, we head back to the car. When we arrived, we somehow came around the back of the place. Sean the GPS seems to have an aversion to the main roads, main entrances and main parking areas. Today it worked out perfectly. A small, nearly deserted “overflow lot” just a few stairs (maybe 30 or so?) up to the main entrance… and the spot we found was in a space cut out of the rock that afforded us a nice cool car on our return. This is Van Gogh country so we ask Sean the GPS to take us to Arles.

Arles is an ancient town., the Ligurians were there as far back as 800bc and the Romans took it in 123bc and built it into a major trade and political center and held it for hundreds of years. Arles has a very dense and complicated history… you should read about it.

Thanks to those Romans, there is an amphitheater that seats about 10,000 and is still being used, an arena, kind of a mini-coliseum that is also still being used as well as a triumphal arch and other bits of Roman whizbang. Not sure what I think about the modern use of the ancient facilities. It probably generates a fair amount of revenue for the city and the upkeep of the facilities… but the modern bleachers that have been built over the stone seats of the arena are truly ugly. The wear and tear on the structures is painfully obvious… the graffiti etched into the stone is particularly discouraging… the question is would they be able to maintain and restore the structures without the revenue of modern events? I don’t know… but they sure had nice bathrooms.

We went looking for the old Arles Hospital, now known as the Espace Van Gogh as that’s where he went after he lopped of his ear… but they must have moved it because it was not where our map said it should have been. Nuts. I think we caught just a glimpse of Arles, there is an awful lot there to see and learn about … maybe next time.

Back to the house for some down time and a dip in the pool. Ernestine returned as we sipped a little rose and had cheese and crackers poolside. Nope… no pictures, don’t even ask.

Stopped at the grocery on the way home… yogurt, wine, strawberries, wine, bread and cheese, wine, toilet paper… wine and something for dinner. Tonight, grilled marinated chicken and lamb with grilled asparagus. I think I may be getting to like this grill… sure cooks fast.

Oh… and more ice cream.