The other day, I bought a shirt from H&M. After one wash, two buttons fell off and a seam ripped. I thought I could salvage it, but I put it on and it immediately disintegrated into dust.
It seems that in our modern throw-away culture, items made these days are not designed to last very long (unless you have a Toyota; those things will last forever).
I’m glad that historical engineers, artists, architects and all others who documented their work from the past didn’t adopt the same attitude we have today. Because of them, the mister and I experienced the beauties of Avignon and Arles.
Like Le Palais de Papes, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Avignon. It housed several popes in its time and still stands today, a nice reminder that Avignon has really kept its ancient heritage.
Le Palais de Papes
Le Palais des Papes
Or the Amphitheatre in Arles, a beautifully restored Roman structure. How it’s still standing, I will never know. But, to imagine that gladiator fights of gargantuan proportions took place in this very coliseum where now, summer concerts are currently performed is amazing.
Arles Amphitheatre
Arles at night, tres belle.
The Amphitheatre was created because of some very cruel labor practices of the Roman Era. But those cruel labor practices forced people to build and sculpt with their hands, putting true grit and passion into each brick and stone.
The same could be said for artists and professions of the time.
Take Van Gogh’s works of art. Van Gogh was a deeply troubled man, as some unappreciated artists tend to be. He was so incredibly troubled that he cut off his ear—CUT OFF HIS EAR! Van Gogh gave his ear to a nearby prostitute and asked the poor woman (who probably thought she had seen everything until she saw an ear in her hand) to keep it safe. I’d like to think that a head would be the safest place to keep an ear, but Van Gogh has a system to his chaos.
In his efforts to find himself, he ended up painting pretty much every scenic landscape in Arles and a couple of parts of nearby Avignon. We captured them on photos and were surprised and awed that those landscapes stayed intact.
Le Cafe La Nuit, thanks Van Gogh
O, bonjour, l’artist Van Gogh
Thanks to Van Gogh, his desperation, his woes and his painstakingly insane art, we have an amazing chronicle in history. And thanks to the guys who built the Amphitheatre. A lot of them probably died and were given a proper burial inside the bricks. But, Rome’s savagery has made some beautiful tourist attractions. I wonder how our generation will capture events of our time. I guess we have Facebook for that.
Skinny alleys of Arles
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