In the afternoon, we left for
Arles by bus. Taking the bus instead of the train because it takes less time. The train will have to go to opposite direction to Marsellie and
stop for a while before going to Arles. I had hard time finding the bus
information on the major reference resources but finally got that from the Local Bus Operator. With Google translator, I was able to read the
French and figured out the stops in between. The bus runs between AIX and Arles is No18.
As aforementioned, the bus
station sign isn't very obvious and going to the right booth could be
challenging. We had to ask around and fortunately, the locals were very
friendly and willing to help regardless they speak English or not. When we were
waiting on the bus, a lady with Rick Steves' book on her hand came over and
asked the driver questions in English. I was able to point her to the right
direction…felt awesome being helpful!
It was a good nap time on the bus
to Arles although it had quite a few stops along the way. Unfortunately, we
were told the bus couldn’t get to the bus station because of the road blockers.
We got off the bus at the edge of the town and had no idea how to get to the
hotel. The taxi driver was too kind to give us a ride since he thought it would
only take us 10 minutes on foot. Well, it took us 30 minutes actually with lots
of uphill climbing. What a pain! The hotel we stayed is Le Regence, which is
one of the recommendations by Rick Steves in his book. The hotel is cozy and
clean. There is no lift at the hotel but the stairs were wide enough to carry
the luggage upstairs without any problem.
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| Hotel bed with the typical Provencal color and symbols. |
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| Anybody knows what are the numbers for? |
We decided to take a quick look
at the town and find a place for dinner. Again, the streets are narrow but they
are much cleaner comparing to AIX. It is also very colorful. At the first sight, I already knew I like it
here better, not to mention the lower living cost. Arles is the place where Van
Gogh spent his most productive years. Thus there are a few spots called ‘Van
Gogh’s easel’ to present what had been captured in Van Gogh’s paintings. The
first spot we saw was Café Van Gogh – it was in Van Gogh’s famous painting
‘Café Terrace at Night’.
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| Cafe Van Gogh |
It was a Sunday so many
restaurants were close. We checked out a few by the Forum and had no luck until
we got to Le Criquet – one is also recommended by Rick. The restaurant took
reservations before it opened for dinning at 6:30pm. We didn’t want to give up
the good meal but I was too hungry to wait for 45 minutes. This opened up a
chance for me to try out the recommended small sandwich at “Hotel Le Calendal
“– it was soooo good and I almost swallowed my tongue with it.
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| Le Criquet |
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| Le Criquet |
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| Dare to try some street food: Mussel with rice - a typical Provencal dish? |
Finally we got to get into the
restaurant for our dinner. This is a family own bistro with pretty cultural
atmosphere. Everything was great except for the smell from someone didn't wear deodorant.
At night, the town became so
quiet and peaceful. The lights turned the famous roman amphitheater(Roman
Arena) into gold. I tried to image how crowded and noisy it used to be. Maybe I
could borrow the scene from movie <Gladiator>? A young guy was sitting at
the stair smoking and waiting for his girl. It just seemed like a movie scene
to me. War/Fight and romance is always the common plot in the movies, isn't it?
Walked up to the river-wall of
Rhode, we were able to put ourselves in Van Gogh’s another painting – Starry
Night. It was so easy turn ourselves into artists when we were surrounded
by the arts and history!
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