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| Arles - The Rhône River |
Arles is a city, where the Rhône River opens into a delta. The island is home to a natural reserve named the Camargue.
Arles is also mentioned as a site of the Unesco World Heritage for its Roman and Romanesque Monuments [Unesco,Arles]. Besides being a charming, historical city, it is also known for its bull games that Picasso used to attend, its Provençal tradition, its summer festival, and also for its world-known international festival of photography called 'Les Rencontres d'Arles'. More recently, it has also been in the limelight for the construction of a cultural center designed by Frank Gehry and sponsored by a local Swiss philanthropist, Maja Hoffmann. Arles is the place where Vincent Van Gogh (1853-1890) was set to work on his most famous paintings. The female local costume of L'Arlésiennehas inspired music classical masters like Georges Bizet (1838-1875) or Charles Gounod (1818-1893). Arles is also the hometown of the former photographer Lucien Clergue (1934-2014) and the designer Christian Lacroix.
In medieval times, the city of Arles was enclosed behind a wall, which remains partially visible
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| A typical house front |
today. But there is still more to the city life. The river neighborhood of La Roquette is slowly becoming a more fashionable area. A maze of picturesque narrow streets and alleys seems to lead the visitor into an entirely different atmosphere, where time, urban noise and community life seem to belong to another dimension.
On the southern side of town, and still near the riverbank, there is a whole section of town that was once home to mariners or other professions, linked to the fluvial activity.
For centuries, this area was considered as a low-class neighborhood, but at the turn of the century, things started to change. A group of young professionals in search of an opportunity to renovate former houses at an affordable price decided to settle in this part of town. They saw the potential of La Roquette with its many outstanding façades waiting for a facelift. The area also keeps former mansions with a garden. A Boutique hotel (Hôtel de Charme in French) opened [L'Hôtel Particulier]. La rue des Porcelets, a short narrow street that connects the downtown Place Antonelleto rue de La Roquette was progressively revamped as new tiny restaurants or cafés started to replace the former shops. This street leads to a V-shaped, shaded square, known as Place Paul Doumer. It used to be a local morning market-place. It has now become a new heaven for cafés.
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La Roquette- a picturesque
alley |
Then a small local theater opened near the Rhône embankment [Théâtre de la Calade]. A former politician, who also had become a city mayor, had renovated an old house where he still lives near the square Paul Doumer. From then onwards, the whole area slowly grew in popularity, particularly among hipsters, who wanted to renovate old, stylish houses to turn them into a trendy place to live.
This process is still going on today. La Roquette has now been greatly embellished. It keeps the feel of a Mediterranean village. Many of the former gray façades have now a brighter look. Wandering through the narrow streets with almost no traffic, the prevalent feeling you get is one of calm and everlasting charm. There are plants and flowers everywhere brightening up everything even in the less affluent sections because it still remains mixed populated neighborhood. Many house doors have been tastefully revived, and some display interesting knockers. It has the feel
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| A fish knocker |
of a Mediterranean village with an atmosphere that strangely seems to be lost in time. It has kept a cultural touch, making it unique as well. There are many house corner niches, still having an original sculpture. They were built by the owners as ex-voto sculptures and were often emptied after the family had left.
Needless to say that the best way to discover the neighborhood is to walk aimlessly along its streets and alleys. This can be confusing to some, but the area is not really big enough to be completely lost. All you have to do is to get back to rue de la Roquette, that crosses the whole area.
A walking tour of La Roquette adds another dimension to the visit of Arles. Its village atmosphere is encompassing. It seems that the heart of an authentic life is still beating there quietly.
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