THE YELLOW HOUSE IN ARLES

more participants at Jenny Matlock's Alphabet Thursday


When I visited Arles together with my friend, daughters and boyfriend, we wanted to drink a good cup of coffee before starting visiting the city.



We choose this little café and made plans. I wanted to follow van Gogh's traces and didn't know that we were sitting just opposite the "Yellow house" which he had painted and which became so famous !

Finally I decided to take the little train which made the tour through the city with explanations. The stop was right at the "Yellow house". So of course I was very surprise to hear that I had sat just in front of this house drinking my coffee.



As soon as I knew I took pictures from all angles ! I was so happy to see where he had his drinks and had painted.

Van Gogh wanted the Yellow House to become a monastic community where the art of the future would be forged, but the house was too cramped.

At home when I looked up the history of the "Maison Jaune" I was surprised that they talked about another house, in which he had lived together with Gaughin. It says that "The Yellow House" no longer exists. It had been destroyed in the 1940s during World War II, but had been rebuilt. I saw this building too, which is now a hotel. The city hadn't even reconstructed his room and it didn't look at all like the painting. The "Yellow House" I had turned around had the inscription "La maison jaune". Now whatever is the truth, I have seen "The Yellow House "!

We were all surprised and disappointed that the city had done so little to remember this famous painter. There was not even a statue of him in the park he had painted.

PS. I just realized that I am one letter behind, the sun probably had some influence on my brain.

A DAY IN ARLES - France

The day arrived I fulfilled a dream, we went to Arles where my favorite painter van Gogh had lived, painted, became crazy and cut his ear off.



The first thing I saw was the amphitheater which dominated the whole town. I didn't go inside because I hadn't enough time, all I wanted was to see the things concerning van Gogh. On the steps I played corrida with Claudie's daugher, she was the bull !



Just opposit the arena was a little train stop, which took tourists through the city and explained all important places. When I had chosen my seat (Claudie and the others went into the arena) this cute dog climbed in and stayed with me although the owners had told me he wouldn't stay long. But he stayed. The train went through such narrow streets that I could touch the walls on each side !





And then I saw the yellow house which van Gogh had painted, the house in which he had lived together with Gaughin, the parks etc. Unfortunately the house was a rebuilt because the original had been destroyed during WWII ! Which made me very angry. Today it is a hotel and of course attracts tourists interested in art, to sleep there where once van Gogh had lived. The tour was very interesting and I will write about it later.




Then we had to go to an Exhibition, Melissa the youngest daughter had to write about for her art studies at the University in Aix en Provence. We were five to look at the map and the little GPS on a smartphone and all five apparently had no sense of direction. So we walked stood, discussed, juggled with the map, turning it in all senses and finally I asked two ladies for the way. It took some time but we arrived to see the masterpieces of a certain Richard Nonas who had lived and worked in New York. Originally he had been ethnologist for 10 years. The exhibition was in such a small street that 3 people couldn't walk side by side. The entrance was closed and we had to ring an old bell. A cat looked out of the window, which was the best of the whole exhibition ! All you could see were square wooden blocks lined up and a cross. I more liked the iron oven in the corner with real logs behind. I didn't want to pretend that I am an intellectual art specialist, I thought the guy was making fun of people. Of course Claudie stayed with her daughter inside and listened to all the explanations explaining the sense of square wooden blocks lined up in a row. The only thing making sense to me was burning them in the stove.

We three, Anaïs, boyfriend and I sat outside on a stone bank and laughed our heads off. Then we went further and sat on the terrace of a café in the sunshine, along the river Rhône and waited for the student and her mother. It had been a wonderful warm day with 24°C ! It seemed like summer.