The city that most inspired Vincent van Gogh

This famous painting was painted in Arles in 1888. Van Gogh only stayed in the city for 15 months, but the light and colors of Arles produced a burst of creativity.

The Dutchman created 200 paintings, including some of his best-known works: Sunflowers, Room in Arles, and portraits of café owner Madame Ginoux, also immortalized by Paul Gauguin.

Forum Square has barely changed since Van Gogh painted it. Café terrace in the evening. The cafe still has yellow walls and awnings and the same evening glow seen in its painting.

You could have a great time on the squares of Arles. You could inhabit a Van Gogh painting, sitting at a terrace table, facing an impression of street lamps, green shutters and waiters moving like specks in the corner of your eye.

This is exactly what you should do. You’d be boring if you visited Arles just to check off a list of Roman sites and museums. It is a city where you can enjoy the sun on the street corners, the shadows under the arches of the amphitheater and the trails of flowers in the hanging baskets.

However, you wouldn’t want your soul to be too agitated. That’s what happened to Van Gogh, who spent his time in Arles half-poisoned by paint pigments and a faulty gas lamp, and ended up cutting off his ear.

Is it indelicate that the hospital-asylum he eventually ended up in, and which he painted several times, is now the beautifully flowered Espace Van Gogh? Probably, but you can treat yourself to some Van Gogh coasters and tea towels as souvenirs without any delicacy.

If you stay in Arles after dark, you’ll be treated to a starry night and the yellow spots of streetlights streaking the cobblestones of the old town. But really, a day visit will be enough.

However, you should not neglect Arles: you can spend a wonderful day there, stroll around and feel like an artist. You can spend your time there, take full advantage of it, and then be happy to leave. And every time you see a Van Gogh painting afterward, you’ll think of that place, warm in the sun and exploding with color and passion.

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THE DETAILS

FLY
Etihad flies from Melbourne and Sydney via Abu Dhabi to Paris, with codeshare connections on Air France to Marseille, 90 kilometres from Arles. See etihad.com

CRUISE
Uniworld River Cruises offers an eight-day Burgundy and Provence cruise between Arles and Lyon starting at $5,299 per person, including accommodation, meals, gratuities and guided shore excursions. Cruises depart regularly between late March and early November. See uniworld.com

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The writer was a guest of Uniworld River Cruises.

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