impressionist dreamer

- Got lost instantly when I came out of the train station in Bern.
- It was 7.30pm and 9 degrees celsius.
- Imagine a girl (probably the only Asian one around too) carrying a 9kg backpack trying to get to her hostel.
- People were speaking German. I thought French was hard but try German.
- No change for bus and I didn't know how get to my hostel.
- Followed, or rather chased the bus from behind.
- Reached at 8.15pm at last. I thought my experience at Gare Du Lyon was hard enough but try this.

Perhaps this sentence sums up the life of Vincent Van Gogh.

We visited the mental institution in St Remy de Provence where he was admitted. Today it is part asylum, part museum, where funding comes from. In the museum, Van Gogh's cell is recreated and visitors get to see and imagine what it possibly looked like.

During Van Gogh's time, patients would be treated by having continuous baths to prevent them from having "new ideas". There are probably more humane ways today but one wonders if Van Gogh's paintings would look differently if he were treated in a different manner.

It costs €4.50 to enter the museum, which is quite pricy for a replica cell (bet the asylum didn't know they would be having such a prestigious guest!) Patients at St Paul undergo art therapy today and some of their art work can be seen and are available for purchase in the museum. Of course, they pale in comparison to Van Gogh's artwork which brings us back to the point where you have to be mad to be a genius.

And I wonder which category I belong to for going on this adventure...

Is it French? Is it Roman? This is Arles, once conquered by the Romans (and as my French hostel mate says, Romans conquer everything) and is a 30 minute train ride from Avignon, my base city.

Nestled in Provence the south of France, Arles is a rugged beauty. Much of it was destroyed and what remains are its ruins. One of them is the classical theater. It was once able to hold 10,000 people but it now looks like its been halved. Piece the image of the theater together as you look around you and notice the broken statues and arcs.

Walking down the street, one feels as though they were in Rome. Roman inspired buildings and.architecture surround Arles. One of the main attractions in Arles is the Roman Amphitheater (and also my substitute to the Colosseum). Beautiful and magnificent, the amphitheater used to house 20,000 spectators who would watch gladiators fight wild animals. Today is it an arena for bullgames.

Roman Amphitheatre


Also hometown to Van Gogh, one can see the buildings and landmarks that inspired him to paint. There is the Van Gogh cafe, the view of Starry night over the Rhone river and Van Gogh's square.

Arles is a very attractive city and one of the most enjoyable things to do is to put down your map, walk around and get lost. It's small and after a while you'll see familiar tourist faces. Beautiful houses with falling paint and cobblestone streets await to be explored. Stop for some gelato, admire the views, listen to local buskers and people watch.

This is my idea of getting lost in a place.