Second stop on our guided tour of Arles and its surroundings.
After having your breakfast under the caring gaze of our Venus of Arles or in the cool of our patio, dash down “Boulevard des Lices” and see the traditional market. Passing by “Rue de l’Hôtel de Ville” and crossing “Place de la République” you’ll feel a growing buzz, as it is here that the locals do their shopping, have a coffee, or go to just to be seen.
If you’re early, you can grab a coffee (and seat) at Bar du marché, or at Malarte, for the live theatrics, before you meander the 1.5 miles of the biggest market in Provence. If you’ve already done your shopping, it’s time for happy hour. With an Arlean sausage from Maison Genin, and an accompanying fougasse from Chez Souliers in your bag, you might need to fight to find a table on a terrace so you can enjoy l’ensemble de rosé, or have another pastis. If you’re looking for something a little calmer, go back up “Rue Jean Jaurès,” take a little road that goes up and to the right to see if there are any places under the paulownia at “Hôtel du Cloître” for a relaxing lunch, far away from the hustle of the boulevard.
Refreshed by the shady intermission, you can now embark on the madness of the old city centre. Once open again, the Providence Ethnographic Museam, “Museon Arlaten” will be the perfect place to leary why Arles is one of the capitals of Providence. Created by Frédéric Mistral and the members of Félibrige in the former Hotel Laval-Castellane”, the Musée Arlésien houses collections of art, ethnology and history that are representative of the country of Arles. However, you’ll have to wait a while before you can discover these marvels.
Tomorrow : Roman Arles
