Arles is where the Rhône splits in two and the Camargue begins, and for more than two thousand years it has been a city of power, art and sun. The Romans made it one of the great cities of Gaul, building an amphitheatre that still hosts events, a theatre, baths and an underground gallery, the cryptoportiques, and the Roman and Romanesque monuments of Arles are a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Romanesque church of Saint-Trophime, with its carved portal and cloister, is one of the finest in Provence.
Vincent van Gogh lived in Arles in 1888 and 1889, and painted some of his most famous works here, including the Café Terrace at Night, The Yellow House and Starry Night over the Rhône. He cut off part of his ear here after a quarrel with Paul Gauguin, and was treated at the hospital, whose courtyard garden he painted, now the Espace Van Gogh. The Fondation Vincent van Gogh shows exhibitions linked to his work, and the LUMA tower, designed by Frank Gehry, has added a striking modern landmark.
The riding around Arles is varied. To the south, the Camargue is a flat land of marshes, lagoons and rice fields, with white horses, black bulls and pink flamingos, and the roads to Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer and the beaches are straight and windy, with the mistral blowing hard from the north. To the north-east, the Alpilles, a range of limestone hills, have winding roads through olive groves and pine forests, past the village of Les Baux-de-Provence. Summer is hot and crowded, and the mosquitoes in the Camargue can be fierce.
Arles, a city of fifty thousand, has fuel, shops and restaurants, and its old centre is a pleasure to walk. Fourques and Fontvieille, nearby, are smaller villages. Provençal food is rich and aromatic: bouillabaisse, tapenade, and the local specialties of the Camargue, such as red rice, gardianne de taureau, a bull stew, and saucisson d'Arles. The Saturday market, along the boulevards, is one of the largest in Provence. In the evening, the light over the Rhône, the same light that inspired Van Gogh, is magical.