Arles (Provence Alpes Côte d’Azur)

The city, classified for forty years by Unesco for its Roman monuments and novels, discover the long-awaited Luma Arles, a creative campus in the former wasteland of the SNCF workshops. Flagship of this project, La Tour designed by Frank Gehry.

From Arles to Aigues-Mortes, the Camargue in freedom

A wild space that man never stops trying to tame, the delta of Rhône is first and foremost a land of culture in every sense of the word.

Arles reconnects with its artistic purpose

Arles' appetite for the arts is not new. As evidenced the collections of the Museum of Ancient Arles, the Romans, 2,000 years ago already, had made the Camargue capital – an anachronistic qualifier – a land of creation. In more recent history, it is up to Vincent van Gogh that we owe to have immortalized this corner of Provence. Under the impulse of the patron Maja Hoffmann – who spent her childhood here —, the Roman city exhibits at least one work by the Dutch Impressionist in a museum bearing the painter's name. In town, you can easily follow in his footsteps. Place du Forum, you can sip a 'Pac à l'eau' (lemon syrup made in neighboring Vaucluse) in the cafe where Vincent painted Cafe Terrace in the Evening. If the House yellow where he lived was bombed in 1944 and that the night on the Rhone is now less starry due to artificial city lights, Les Arenas are still as lively as the Pont de Langlois dominates always the same channel. The courtyard painted by Van Gogh in the city center is no longer that of the hospital but of a space that bears his name. On the plan contemporary, the Luma foundation likes to exhibit the creation of the moment at the foot of a tower signed Frank Gehry. Symbol of a city in movement, it dominates former SNCF workshops.

Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, between wild nature and tamed land

The road leading to Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer from Arles (including the facade is a UNESCO World Heritage Site) is a disorientation in itself. Seemingly inhospitable, the land surrounding is actually unfathomably rich. auspicious to the cultivation of rice, the Camargue is also home to a very eclectic. Bulls, horses (of the Camargue breed obviously) and the pink flamingos bring a touch much more picturesque to these landscapes. the Petit Rhône Reserve at Sylvéréal also offers a walk in the heart of 70 wild hectares. Many horseback rides are possible across the pond. Once arrived at Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, a visit to the church is needed...

Aigues-Mortes, between salt and earth

In the Camargue desert, the mirage is perfect. In fact of glacier, it is a mountain of salt called Camelle which dominates Aigues-Mortes, city fortified medieval town located west of the Camargue. The salt tables roses are so colored due to the small shrimp that inhabits them and which in turn give this tint to the plumage of the pink flamingos which eat. From the road leading to Grau-du-Roi you can only see a small part of this agricultural holding whose surface of about 100 km2 is equivalent to that of the City of Paris!
Shock of cultures, a few tens of meters away stands the Tour de Constancy. Formerly a prison, it was the dungeon of Marie Durand, a Cévennes who, in the 18th century, was kept here incommunicado for 38 years because of her Protestant faith. The Camargue remains a land of combat.