Arles and Les Lumieres

We spent our first full morning in France traversing the streets of Arles, famous for the quality of its light, which drew Van Gogh and others to the area. Except there wasn’t much light this morning. Cloudy, overcast, windy, and 10 degrees Celsius (you do the math). Nevertheless, intrepid travelers are never deterred by a bit of inclement weather. just add a layer and keep trekking.

Here is our guide in Arles, explaining that Van Gogh may not have really painted the yellow cafe in the background, but it has sure made the establishment a popular destination.

in the afternoon we had a wonderful tour of Les Lumieres, a former quarry converted to a multimedia art museum.  This season they were featuring Bosch and Bruegel, projecting these artists’ work onto sheer rock panels some 50 feet tall. Incredible display of both art and technology, a pairing I found very endearing. To say nothing of the challenge of photographing in a dimly lit quarry. Those lines you see bisecting the art are the panels carved into the granite.

And of course I have one ear attuned to the political landscape here in France, as we are about ten days from the runoff election. I am told that Provence is largely LePen territory, but this poster of LePen – intentionally or subliminally – struck me as a subtle suggestion of her Nazi affinity (is she sporting a Hitler mustache?)