Arles Local Custom Tips by davequ Top 5 Page for this destination

Cloistered Monks on Cafe break

As I was shooting some pictures from the top of the Roman Arena, I turned around to climb down and saw this, which I thought was funny.

What in the picture looks like what might be a flock of crows in the stands is actually a group of monks from St. Trophime cloisters who snuck into the arena for about 15 minutes to just sit and enjoy it.
They didn't make hardly a sound, just sat there for a while, then filed out back to the cloister.

One of the local beverages for late evening

An acquired taste for sure, but try a Versinthe

Hotel Calendal will serve you one with absinthe spoon, glass, sugar, etc. in the garden as an overture to your late night Arles promenade.

Recommended!

You can learn much about one of my favorite Arles beverages here:
Liquoristerie de Provence Versinthe

A must read for Provence lovers

A Year in Provence
.... a funny book by Peter Mayle is for anyone who loves and appreciates not necessarily the city of Arles but the entire Provence.

After two trips to the Provence I finally got around to reading it, and it has its moments in depiction of the local customs of its people. The copy I read from my hometown library also had some very good illustrations.

You can rent it from the library, lots of used copies are available on the net for ~$2, or buy a new one. I hear there is a DVD / movie now.

I enjoyed it.