hello again! we are reliving the memories of our trip to arles as we write this post. arles is an amazing city for many reasons. arles is in the provence area of france so you have a sort of country feel that permeates the city as well as it's food. arles was once home to vincent van gogh - he painted the majority of his works - about 200 total - while he was in arles, as well as the home of another famous painter, paul gaugin. one day in the light of the city and you know why these 2 artists called arles home for some time. arles also has a bit of ancient history as well - it houses an ancient roman ampitheatre as well as a decaying roman forum. and let's not forget the bull games as well....our home for our 3 days in arles was the Hotel Voltaire. if you go to arles, consider staying here. we had a cozy little room with a balcony that opened to a view of a cute square and the old roman ampitheatre one block away. it was a perfect way to relax. now i know why people travel to provence and don't come home.
the food was amazing, we slept with the windows open, there were cafes on every corner beckoning you to just drink some coffee and read a book......but one of the highlights of our trip to arles was the bull games.
the bull games are held in the old roman ampitheatre. now this is NOT a bull fight. there are no swords or dying animals. instead, small ribbons are tied to the horns of the bull. the bull is announced and paraded into the center of the ring. then about 20 young guys in all white taunt the bull so that it charges one of them. instead of side-stepping the bull like a matador, they get as close to the bull as possible without getting gored for a chance to snatch one of the ribbons off of its horns. if they snatch a ribbon, they get some points as well as lots of bragging rights. if they get too close or if the bull comes too fast, they just catapult over the wall like it's no big deal. and you thought you had some cool hobbies. i am sure that all of these dudes have no problem getting the ladies, let me tell you. after a while the bull gets tired so it's apparently easier to get the ribbons. sometimes the bull is just ticked and snorts, drools, paws the earth, and bangs his head into things. if he's REALLY peeved, he runs full speed at the wall, jumps over it, and causes the spectators just outside of the ring to jump INTO the ring. if they don't have time to jump into the ring, then the spectators hide out behind these semi-walls that the bull can't go behind because he's too fat. jonathan and i were lucky enough to be sitting in the first row of "safe" seats, right behind the little spectator wall thingys. we were up by 1 row from the action, yet i still almost peed my pants when the bulls jumped the wall. if the bull does something cool they play that song from the opera "Carmen" and the bull gets points. suffice it to say, it was crazy!
overall, we left with mixed feelings. at first, the whole thing was really cool. but after a while, we started to feel sorry for the poor bulls. they looked kind of stressed out. some of them drooled a lot. and who knows what they do to get them all riled up - maybe it's just their instincts, but who knows. the game for each bull only lasts about 15 minutes, but some of the bulls seemed more scared than others. the guidebooks all assure you that these bulls are well taken care of and that they all die of old age, but we still felt kinda bad for the poor things.
the next day was pretty relaxing. the highlight was running into another traveler from the states. we shared a great dinner with jim. we found out that he was from palo alto, loves bike touring, and has had an amazing career in the medical field. he shared a lot of great stories with us and even paid for our meal! thanks again jim! we hope to see you again sometime back in the states or on another one of your adventures.
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