Tarascon to Arles and return: Van Gogh country

November 4, 2009

Weather: sunny and cool

A short flat ride today through the floodplain of the Rhone to Arles, Van Gogh's home for two years near the end of his life. The town and surrounding countryside were the inspiration for many of his best-known paintings (none of which are found in Arles, since the town can't afford to own one).

The perfectly flat, empty small roads between Tarascon and Arles.

This painting by Van Gogh of a bridge near Arles is in the collection of the Kroller-Muller museum in the Netherlands.

On the way to see Roman ruins in Arles, we passed a few contemporary constructions.

We arrived in Arles around 11:00, and had plenty of time for a good look around. The famous arena was draped with scaffolding and tarps, and workmen were noisily power-washing sections of the exterior, so we decided to skip going inside, especially since we had just visited the larger Nîmes arena.

The Roman arena in Arles was being restored--a project expected to take some years.

We checked out the Roman theatre, still impressive even though only two columns and some stone seats remain, and then walked our bikes through the pleasant, largely pedestrianized centre. Lunch was at a smallish restaurant tucked away on a tiny back street. We were the first people there and were surprised when the place soon completely filled up with a Japanese tour group; we wondered how they'd found it.

Ruins of the Roman theatre close to the arena in Arles.

After cycling back to Tarascon in the afternoon, we walked to the village of Beaucaire, just across the bridge near the chateau. On the Languedoc side of the Rhone, we tried to visit Beaucaire's chateau which dominates the town, but the only way to gain admission was to buy a ticket to a falconry show. A canal filled with pleasure boats divides the two lanes of the busy main street of town. We walked along the canal for a while, but found it crowded and noisy from too much car traffic. The feel of the place was quite commercial, and we were glad to be staying in the more laid-back Tarascon.

The castle looming above Beaucaire, on the opposite bank of the Rhone from Tarascon.

Dinner (back in Tarascon) was in the glassed-in terrace of a restaurant near the train station. There was a festive family party at a nearby table, and we enjoyed overhearing the birthday toasts and jokes while eating our surprisingly good meal with a very reasonable half-litre bottle of Cotes du Rhone.

Today's ride: 34 km (21 miles)
Total: 583 km (362 miles)

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