I'd visited the city of Arles briefly in 2016 as part of my first campervan trip around France. I'd immediately fallen in love with it and I would have stayed for longer except I only had 2 hours on the parking meter and the gypsy woman hovering around it asking for change discouraged me from putting more money in. So I was only there for 2 hours. But I felt at home, a strange feeling that I hadn't had before in any other city.
For my birthday this year, I therefore decided that I would get an Airbnb apartment in the old town of Arles and spend the week there.
Decision made, I then had to work out the logistics. The nearest airport to Arles is Marseille, and there is a train to get from airport to Arles but then I wouldn't really have the ability to go to any other places nearby. I worked out where I'd like to go, and studied the transport maps and worked out that it was going to be too hard. So I hired a car instead.
I've only ever hired one left hand drive car before and that was for one day on the island of Naxos. I had found that to be ok, but I couldn't quite gauge where I was positioned on the road. I figured I'd hire the car in France and just take it easy until I felt more confident. Also, since I hired an auto (which are quite rare in France), I had to get a car in a higher class, and the sporty little Renault Megane they gave me had all sorts of mod cons: from lane assist to beepy things at the front bumper (very useful in the tight parking garages of France) and a brilliant reversing camera.
I left my house in London at 4:30am and caught my 9am flight to Marseille, getting there just after 11am. I waited for ages in a queue at the car hire place to pick up my car, finally got it, then drove the hour-long drive to Arles. It was really handy having the lane assist, as it would beep at you if you were veering off course, but getting used to the rear view mirror being on the other side was the trickiest part of the drive!
I made it to Arles and drove up to the parking station that I had selected - you could buy an 8-day parking ticket there for a fairly reasonable price, and it was secure parking. So I drove in, and was very grateful for the beepy things while driving around a tiny little parking station packed with cars. Honestly, European parking stations are nothing like the roomy ones I remember from Sydney, they are so tiny with cars just dumped anywhere! I found a spot and, using the reverse camera, reversed in. Honestly, it's little things like these that are so helpful when I don't drive very regularly, maybe once or twice a year!
I got my luggage out and walked to my Airbnb. It was in a lovely place and was really comfortable. Then it was time to go wandering for a bit before picking up some food for an early dinner. It was the 13th July, which in France is the night where fireworks are let off for La Fête Nationale or Bastille Day and all the restaurants are crammed full. I was so tired from my 4am start that I had an early dinner and collapsed into bed!
The next day I was up bright and early. It was a public holiday in France, and I assume all the French people were waking up late with sore heads from the fireworks and festivities of the night before.
I went for a very pleasant 14km walk around the city, going to all the old buildings and seeking out all the pretty little spots in Arles. I had picked up a map yesterday and did the "Ancient Arles" walk. It just confirmed what I had felt back in 2016 - this place is special and I felt at home.
I then switched onto the "Van Gogh Arles" walk, which took me out to the Bridge of Langlois. This is not the original bridge that Van Gogh painted sadly, as it was replaced in 1930 by a concrete structure, then the whole things was destroyed by the Nazis in 1944. But it was replaced with a reconstruction by the Arles tourist board. It was a long walk out there, and a long walk back.
I walked back to my Airbnb for a cold glass of water, a sit down, and some lunch. It was a hot day and I'd been walking a lot. I went back out for more walking around at 4pm when it had cooled down a little. I went back to the Cathédrale Saint-Trophime, which was open, and had a look around. It was a nice church inside, but there were a lot of relics, which I always find a little weird - I don't understand the fascination with hanging onto old bits of bone...
It was light in southern France until at least 10pm, so I just kept wandering until I got too hungry to move, then had dinner. I ended up at this restaurant called L'Armandier, which served some delicious Moroccan food, before heading back to my apartment for a cuppa and bed.
