A DAY TRIP TO ARLES
On day four we struck out on our own to visit the city of Arles which is south-west from Avignon, about a one hour drive away. While we had rented a nice vehicle in Avignon a couple of days earlier and we were given a Garmin by Hugh, I had forgotten how many roundabouts there were in France. To make matters worse, we did the drive in a major thunderstorm. That was unusual weather for that part of the country at that time of year.
Arles is a city, like many others in France, that is steeped in tradition and has seen multiple political and religious regimes. (Click on this link to see some of the history courtesy of Wikipedia.)
Our purpose in heading to Arles was to see a major photographic and art exhibit and ironically because it was raining so hard we did not take any exterior shots. We did take some photos inside the exhibit space but you can see them in this attached link to the Rencontres d’Arles. This year one of the featured photographers was Walker Evans, a prominent American photographer whose pictures of the depression era are considered iconic. Later in his career, he was a staff writer for Time magazine and editor at Fortune magazine.
Walker Evans (1903-1975)
Many of the other installations were very avant-garde and challenging to the viewer. All in all it was a rainy day well spent.
Later that day we joined our friends Hugh and Margo for another stellar meal, this time at Auberge des Carrieres in Taillades. The menu was varied, the wine cellar vast and the company superb.
On to Portugal tomorrow.
