Arles, Because We Love ‘Ronin’

This may sound a little strange, but our main reasons for thinking about visiting Arles is because it is featured in the movie Ronin, a favorite of ours. If you are not familiar, the movie stars Robert De Niro and Jean Reno and is based around a group of mercenaries attempting to control a silver brief case. Doesn’t sound that exciting until you add in some spectacular car chase scenes and gunplay. De Niro and Reno follow a rouge mercenary to Arles, where he is hiding out, and there is a cool chase scene that involves the old Roman arena there. We did some research of the town and it is just a 20 minute train ride from Avignon, so we decided to check it out.

Arles was an ancient roman colony founded in 46 BC during Julius Ceaser’s reign. The train station is to the north and you pass through and old gate and some old walls as you enter the city. There are some sections of the old city walls, but they are gone except for some small portions and a few towers. There is a bending river that we walked along, then made our way to the central square pictured above. In the center is an obelisk, which was originally in the center of the nearby ‘circus’, where roman chariot races took place. In front is the Hotel De Ville and to the left a church.

On the right side of the central square is another church, St. Trophime. A church was originally built in the 7^th century and most of the building we see today was built in the 14^th Century. The façade has some very nice detailed carving. The interior is pretty austere, but includes some large local tapestries and this finely carved alter.

Connected to the St. Trophime church is the Cloister, also with constructions in the 7^th and 14^th Centuries. The carvings of the pillars surrounding the cloister were very detailed, with lots of religious figures, soldiers, other people and animals. We were able to go upstairs to some of the vaulted rooms and even walk outside above the cloister. There was another room showcasing these large tapestries with their signature blue coloring.

Underneath the Hotel De Ville is the Cryptoloporticos, which were the foundations of a Roman Forum built in the 1^st Century BC. The complex originally housed administrative, judicial, economical, and religious functions of the roman city. The current ground level is now 6 meters above where they used to be. It is an amazing U-shaped series of arches with little side rooms on one end. There are also bits of columns and statues strewn about the place.

These are some old cells, found now in an open courtyard lined by government offices, that have been used over the years. Most recently, they were used to imprison Jews during WWII.

Arles also has a fairly well preserved Roman Amphitheater. It looks like there are still a lot of original pieces and columns lying about, but a lot of the Amphitheater itself looked redone. They still hold performances in it today.

Right in the middle of the city is the Arena, built in the 1^st Century BC, with a capacity of 20,000. It is really well preserved, only the top section is gone (very few Arena’s have the top section, Nimes may be one of the few that does) so they have some unsightly metal risers all over the place. It is now used as a bull-fighting arena. We think we found a location of a scene from Ronin, where there is a standoff with Gregor above and two thugs below. Here is Megan recreating the scene.

Vincent Van Gogh spent a few years later in his life in Arles. He produced some of his most famous pieces here, including some of the sunflower paintings and a painting of his bedroom. In several places where we painted scenes in Arles, there are little placards like this one showing the painting. This is a hospital that Van Gogh stayed at after a mental breakdown. There is also a draw bridge south of town and a hotel with paintings that we know about.

Our visit culminated in a visit to the Arles antique museum, which houses a sizeable collection of Roman artifacts. One things that was quite amazing was a map of the Roman Empire that really shows how vast it was. Here are some of our favorites.

There was a temporary exhibit entitled “Ceasar” and had a room full of loaned objects that included busts, sculptures, jewelry, and other small pieces.

This is a sarcophagus from the nearby Alyscamps, a well-preserved, ancient cemetery on the outskirts of the old city walls of Arles. In Roman times, cemeteries were not allowed in the cities.

Here is a 3-D model of Roman Arles. The museum is the top left of the Circus (now a little park), which is that white rectangle at the top left of the picture. The streets and the city plan is almost exactly the same to this day.

The museum also had a collection of tiled floors. Some of them were massive, including this almost complete floor.

On the way back to the train station we walked past another of Van Goghs scenes, this one of a hotel he lived in when he first move to Arles. The only difference is that some of the small surrounding buildings are no longer there.

Avignon - so pretty, Vince took 700 pictures.

Avignon is a magnificent walled city with towers, turrets, and city gates. No wonder the popes chose to live here for a hundred years (more about that in a bit). The walls (which still fully encircle the city) were constructed in the 14^th Century.

The city is winding streets, pretty squares, beautiful old buildings, and water wheels.

On our first walk around the city, we stumbled upon this building, the Livree Ceccano. It’s now a library used by both University students and the public. It was built in 1340 as a Cardinal’s palace, and then used as a Jesuit school from about 1570 to 1770. Doesn’t look like much from the outside, but quite a gem to stumble upon! In the interior pictures, you can see the original (faded) painting on the ceiling and walls, probably from the 1400’s.

The churches in Avignon, like many other towns, have their own distinctive style. The first that we visited is called Saint-Didier. The original church on the site was built in 1068, but it was re-built in 1359, and that is the existing structure as it stands now. The style is “Avignon gothic.”

The church is much rather plain on the inside (compared to many churches that were built during the Renaissance or after, but it just SO OLD, we were pretty awe-struck. The original stone floors are a bit uneven and worn away with age. Cool to stand on such old floors.

There is one very note-worthy art installation in the church, this stone carving/relief. “Portement de Croix” (I think translates to “carrying the cross”) was carved/painted by Francesco Laurana for King Rene in 1478. It's a pretty amazing piece of art - and so old.

Our walk took us through the main square of the city, with some of the important buildings, including the Hotel de Ville (town Hall) and the main theater:

We got to walk on the city walls, so it was a happy day for Vince:

Next to the Palace of the Popes is the Cathedrale de Notre Dame des Doms. It was built in the 12^th Century.

Again, what is striking about this church is how old it is. Since it was the church of the popes for a hundred years, it did have some carved stone and stained glass masterpieces.

This is the tomb of Pope John XXII, a masterpiece of the 14th Century.

Palace of the Popes

Finally, the piece de résistance of Avignon: the Papal Palace. Anyone who ever learned about the Avignon Papacy & the Great Schism, put your thinking caps on and try to remember… If not I’ll give you a quick clumsy recap. The pope (Clement V) left Rome in 1305 because Rome was chaotic & violent at the time – and he owned property in Avignon and liked it, so he moved there. Popes stayed in Avignon and legitimately ruled until 1377. Then, when the legitimate(?) papacy moved back to the Vatican, two “anti-popes” (Clement VII and Benedict XIII) stayed in Avignon “ruling” until 1403 (technically, Benedict XIII was imprisoned there for the last 5 years). From 1377, there were other Popes in Rome who claimed legitimacy.

ANYWAY, the palace. Pope Benedict XII started building it in 1334. He built the part that is called Palais Vieux (the old palace). A couple of the following Popes added on to the original building, and the new, larger “addition” was bigger than the entire original palace – Palais Neuf (new palace). The resulting structure now totals an unbelievable 11,000 square meters, 2.6 acres.

The palace has been the center of a lot of history, drama, and violence during its 650 years. Along with the sieges at the end of the Avignon papacy, it was sacked in 1789 during the French Revolution, and the site of a massacre in the counter-revolution. It was used for military barracks and prisons under Napoleon, and occupied by the military of various governments until 1906.

In a nutshell: The seat of the Pope was in Avignon for about 100 years: legitimately for about 72 years, and illegitimately for another 25 or so. During those last 25 years (1377 on) a second Pope was ruling from Rome, so it was quite a mess – by definition there can only be one Pope at a time.

So, here’s the Palace. It’s huge, almost doesn’t fit in our camera’s relatively wide angle.

This is the first courtyard that you walk through, at the entrance:

Next to the courtyard is the Treasury, where the pope kept… well, his treasures. At any time he would have had tons (literally) of silver, gold, and other valuables. He actually kept them under the stone floor:

Most of the castle’s furnishings and treasures are now gone, so the rooms are now empty and cold. The tour explained that there were once priceless tapestries and carpets all over the walls and floors. The tour also explained that the Popes of Avignon, with the exception of Benedict, lived extremely opulent lifestyles, with valuable treasures, all the available luxuries of the time, and a personal staff of hundreds.

The next courtyard that borders the dining room and living quarters looks very “castle-like.”

This was the dining room, where the Pope hosted wonderful banquets. The fireplace is enormous.

This is the Grand Chapel where the Popes worshiped, now used for temporary exhibitions:

This is the “lower chapel”, which was some kind of court - “justice was administered.” The Pope determined sentences, and his judgments were deemed infallible (i.e. not up for appeal).

The views from the top of the palace are fantastic:

The Market:

A couple of times, we went to the market (this strange plant-covered building) to pick up lunch – fresh-baked baguette and some olive tapenades and tomato spreads, and fruit.

Villeneuve – the town across the river.

Being the ambitious (or stupid?) walkers that we are, we walked to another town on the other side of the river, called Villeneuve. It has an interesting history because the town was built in the times when Avignon (and the rest of Provence) wasn’t part of France. So it was a border town built to “compete” with Avignon, and the fort was built to protect it (and the French border) in 1350.

After walking through the pretty walled city streets and poking around the town…

… We went to La Chartreuse, a monastery built on land donated by Pope Innocent VI in 1352.

The entrance is pretty grand:

The monastery has its own church – it’s been damaged in various wars, particularly the French Revolution:

Inside a sheltered part of the church is the mausoleum of the aforementioned Pope Innocent VI. The detail is unbelievable, especially considering that it’s from 1362.

The cloister (with rooms where they lived) are stone and surround a pretty courtyard.

Art students now live in some of the rooms! Gives a whole new meaning to "old dorms."

It had vegetable gardens, a laundry room, and even jail cells.

Possibly the most impressive room was the chapel with frescoes painted by Francois Des Royers in the 14^th Century. They have been damaged, but the colors are still so brilliant.

Next, we visited the Fort St. Andre, built 1350-1364. It lost its significance in 1481 when Provence became a part of France (so it was no longer a border town).

First, the very impressive towers, where a couple of administrative and judicial officers lived:

The view from the top was amazing (albeit windy) – the second picture was taken right before a gust of wind swept my hat away to the ground far, far below, starting an episode in which Vince darted down several stories of treacherous circular steps and I yelled down to the people below (in broken French) thanks for picking up my hat, it’s my hat, please don’t run off with it, the husband running down treacherous circular steps to get it!

Inside, the towers, the rooms and ceilings are pretty unreal:

We walked along the walls by the towers…

We wandered around the large fortress grounds with walls and structures, including this church, built in the 12^th Century and used as a parish chapel until the 14^th Century. Inside, there is a very early example of a circular staircase with no central “spine” – extremely rare at the time of construction.

We walked back through the pretty town and over the bridge back to Avignon…

And after another wonderful French dinner, we took a nighttime stroll to enjoy the palace and churches at night.

In short (for once), Avignon is a beautiful, charming place.