IN ARLES AND CAMARGUE, CHASING OUR CHILDHOOD DREAMS

Arles and the Camargue, the Camargue and Arles… 2 sister destinations that complement each other for an experience of Provence as in a dream, between traditions, myths, fabulously rich stories, culture, gastronomy, but also modernity and a dynamism that continues to make this destination so desirable. City or wild nature, why choose? Just a short distance from each other they offer everything! We heading to these much-loved destinations.

CREATING THE MYTH

Some places seem familiar to us even before we visit, and this is even truer for Arles and the Camargue, whose imaginary world seems to have been woven through books, films, stories and strong images that have shaped the identity, real or fantasised, of the places.

One can imagine the Arlésienne redesigned by Christian Lacroix, a child of the region, all in juxtaposition of fabrics, lace, velvet ribbons, extravagant crosses and frank colours, between the elegant Provençal traditions and the gypsy culture all in movement. So if you get the chance, you should definitely go to Arles this year on July 2nd to attend the Fête du Costume, and admire the Arlésiennes and the gardians in their beautiful traditional clothes.

Other images of Arles come to mind, and they all contain the colour yellow: a vibrant, luminous yellow, put on canvas by an absolute master: Vincent Van Gogh, who spent 15 extraordinary months of excess and creativity in the city, which has remained marked by this passage (just go and sit at the Van Gogh café in the Place du Forum to feel like you’re in a painting!) and which allowed Van Gogh, apart from a famous moment of madness, to create his masterpieces, including the Sunflowers series. A visit to the Vincent Van Gogh Foundation in Arles is therefore absolutely essential to understand how creativity is inspired by real places.

For the Camargue, other images are superimposed: that of a book and a film in particular, a classic from the 1950s that children of successive generations have continued to praise: Crin Blanc, the beautiful and sad story of a wild horse and a little boy. A certain idea of freedom, of wide open spaces, of nature that we discover and that fills us with wonder, grandiose, powerful, sensitive. A strong desire to tame a horse and to live a thousand adventures with him.

Equipped with these powerful myths and images, the journey can begin, to confront reality.

IN ARLES, WHERE ANCIENT AND MODERN COEXIST

How, when you have 2,500 years of history and are a UNESCO World Heritage Site, do you manage to avoid becoming just an open-air museum? In Arles, ancient history is everywhere, especially Roman history, which gave the city its organisation and some of its most impressive remains. You can enjoy walking around the arenas, the thermal baths, the ancient theatre and the obelisk as if you were turning the pages of a history book.

But what sets the tone of this city is not what is fixed but what is alive: its gentle way of life, its culture, its joyful spirit: go to the market early on Saturday mornings to avoid hordes of tourists and fill your basket with beautiful local products from a generous nature, go around the bars for aperitif-pastis, see and be seen, at the Nord Pinus hotel for the legendary, at the Artalan for the chic, or in any of the many cafés in the city’s squares.

In the evening cross the majestic Rhône to see the sun set from the Trinquetaille district on the Right Bank, splashing a thousand lights on the perfect facades of the quays, always with the impression of being in a village rather than a city, the countryside is just at the end, and understanding why Van Gogh, decidedly, has been inspired by the place.

But Arles has succeeded in this tour de force of being so contemporary, without being ungainly, all in harmony and coherence. Of course, when the Luma Tower began to emerge from the ground, many must have been appalled by such audacity. However, what a tribute to the city and its history in this fabulous building by Frank Gehry, an ode to Van Gogh’s brushstrokes, which reflects the sun and gives the city’s relief an exuberant edge that suits it well. The whole site is worth spending a few hours in, between the tower and the studio park, a fascinating immersion in the world of contemporary art. Another place dedicated to a contemporary artist we love, Lee Ufan, is also worth a visit, a beautiful museum that mixes sculptures and paintings.

And finally, of course, the Rencontres de la Photographie is another reason to come to Arles, a perfect immersion in the city (in 2023, the rencontres will take place from July 3 to September 24).

ESCAPISM AT HOTEL LES CABANETTES

For this new season, it is in Arles that Escadrille landed for a photo shoot in an exceptional setting, that of the Hotel les Cabanettes. We loved the modernist architecture and the decoration in total coherence with the spirit of the building (which is classified), a unique breath of fresh air in this mixture of light from Provence and vintage sixties style spirit, not to mention the comfort, the welcome from Gaëlle and Aaron, and the magical atmosphere! A very inspiring place in which we loved to stage our new collection, a precious address to live Arles differently, close while being quiet, between the city and the Camargue, a perfect geographical location to explore all around (because in addition to Arles and the Camargue, the region is full of wonders, including the villages of the Alpilles, the Baux-de-Provence and Maussane-les-Alpilles in the lead!)

IN THE CAMARGUE, REDISCOVER YOUR CHILDLIKE SOUL

This is the delta of a majestic river, the Rhône (the Petit and the Grand) which at the end finds the sea, taking a few side roads to get there and creating one of the most fascinating ecosystems in France: the Camargue. You approach it through vineyards, almond and olive groves, and rice fields before arriving in a space where the land and the horizon seem to have no boundaries, a natural park that lives to the rhythm of the water, either fresh or salty when the sea penetrates it. A refuge for migratory birds, including the majestic pink flamingos (although some remain here all year round), wild white horses, dunes, lagoons, white sandy beaches, marshes surrounded by tall grass vegetation, the deep blue sky. A totally surreal landscape, which understandably fills the dreams of children.

For them it is to the Cacharel Hotel that we go, a charming hotel, simple and bright, with little white houses and horses everywhere. For Cacharel was the home of Denys Colomb de Daunant, a renowned horse and bull breeder, and it is the place where Crin Blanc was filmed, for which Denys was a stakeholder. In the very heart of the Camargue, with the marshes right in front of it, it is a place of contemplation to go for a ride on horseback, and to get to know these places. A unique and magical experience that children will remember for the rest of their lives!

The Camargue is also the fantasy of Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, a place at the end of the world, where one tries to find this gypsy spirit which is displayed in all its splendour every 24 May on the occasion of the pilgrimage and the procession of Sara-la-Kali, patron saint of the gypsies. A part of the world where you can imagine the fabulous destinies of those who have made this region their home, and who continue to keep its heritage alive.