Another Camino? I'm All Ears!

We couldn't stay away: we're off on our 5th Camino adventure in four years. This time, we're walking a 90 kilometer segment of the Via Tolosana, or the Arles Way, from Arles to Montpellier in the French Provençal region. The entire Via Tolosana is 800 kilometers long, running from Arles all the way to Toulouse, then into Spain, where it eventually merges with paths to Santiago. However, I am inherently lazy and do not wish to exert myself thusly. Five days of walking is plenty for this pilgrim.

We arrived in Arles by train from Barcelona this afternoon. It's perfect Provence spring weather, and this little town is so beautiful in the bright sunlight. Arles is famous for being the French town where Van Gogh famously cut off his own ear (hence the blog title, though they say that if you have to explain the joke, you've already lost, so there's that).

We've been to Arles once before, during Easter week in 2018, and loved the region (I do not trust people who don't like Provence, I am just saying). But the Arles we saw then was very different from today's: Our original visit was during their Easter Feria, a Spanish-themed festival featuring live bulls running through the streets. The entirety of the Old Town was given over to the feria, so we missed a lot of its quaint charm. But this time, we had the afternoon to explore the town.

We wandered Arles's quiet, sun-dappled squares, filled with cute shops, vibrant flowers, and ancient buildings made of sun-bleached stone. It was so blissfully serene that, as someone used to the noise and chaos of the city, it made me want to curl up in a sunny spot and take a nap.

We had one very important errand in the Old Town: We had to visit the Cathedral Saint-Trophime in Plaza République. Here, a very sweet man welcomed us as pilgrims (or "pelerins" in French), and gave us our initial Pilgrim passport stamps. Whee! The adventure begins!

After the Cathedral, we visited the hospital that admitted van Gogh after he cut off his ear (the mental hospital he was sent to is a different place, in nearby Saint-Remy). We'd visited this quiet, tranquil cloister before; I love its peaceful garden and its steadfast refusal to be a touristy spot. Instead, visitors are asked to sit on benches in the bright flower garden and just relax in the silence.

We stopped for a requisite glass of pastis, the Provençal licorice liqueur, at a bar in a shady plaza. I can honestly say that there are few experiences in this world as delicious as enjoying a cold glass of pastis at a sunny sidewalk café in Provence.

Later in the evening, two friends from Marseille drove up to Arles to meet us for dinner. I hadn't seen these friends in nearly a year, so sharing a pichet of Provençal wine over dinner was an amazing way to begin our Via Tolosana adventure.

We are staying at an AirBnB that can only be described as "astonishing ": It sits across from the ancient Roman amphitheater, and at night the lit amphitheater is almost unreal. It was like sleeping next to a green-screen background.

Tomorrow the walk begins!Les mer