GEO correspond-il à vos attentes ? - Les Suds à Arles

Michelin star in 2007 for sophisticated
dishes that pack big flavors, such as a
perfectly cooked cod with a foamy caraway
sauce and his passion fruit and
gariguette strawberry soup dessert.
The chef says, “I use local products
and try to create something different
from what my customers can cook
at home.” No doubt of that. Lunch
menus from €24; dinner menus from
€29 (Tues-Thurs) and €65 (Fri-Sat).
31 rue Porte de Laure; Tel. 33/4-90-
18-25-05.
L’Atelier de Jean-Luc Rabanel Rabanel
earned a local following as head
chef at La Chassagnette before opening
his own organic restaurant in 2006,
in the historic center. This year Michelin
awarded him with a second star for a
creative, contemporary style that gives
vegetables a starring role. Lunch menu
at €45, dinner menus at €85/ €150. 7
rue des Carmes; Tel. 33/4-90-91-07-
69; rabanel.com.
A Côté For a less expensive, informal
taste of Rabanel’s cuisine, this bistro
offers up a convivial ambiance along
with flavorful dishes and tapas such as
white almond gazpacho, Pata Negra
ham, grilled sardines and brandade
de morue. It’s open late, and Rabanel
often pops in to check how things are
going. Lunch menu at €29, dinner
menu at €37. 21 rue des Carmes; Tel.
33/4-90-47-61-13; bistro-acote.com.
La Bodeguita This noisy, friendly
tapas restaurant decorated with brica-brac
and high stools serves a young
local crowd late into the night. Inexpensive
and fun. Tapas start at €3, à
la carte €30 to 35. 49 rue des Arènes;
Tel. 33/4-90-96-68-59; bodeguitaarles.fr.
left, below: Arles’s local saucissons,
available at the farmers’ market;
a chalkboard menu at A Côté.
“fadoli”: olive oil, honey and nougat.
Near the Place du Forum—in the summer,
look for the line snaking out the
door. 9 rue du Docteur Fanton; Tel.
33/4-90-93-30-76.
Farmers’ Market On Saturday mornings,
the boulevard des Lices and
surrounding area burst into color with
what many consider the best farmers’
market in Provence. You can buy anything
from olive tree saplings to lavender
soaps, live ducklings, bull sausage,
fresh strawberries and wool gardian
horse blankets.
Arles
Carnet
peror Constantine’s palace (beneath
the floor of the lobby, you can see an
original Roman road). Rooms are simply
furnished in traditional Provençal
style; it’s one of the few hotels with an
outdoor pool. Doubles from €85. 26
rue du Sauvage; Tel. 33/4-90-93-56-
66; hotel-arlatan.fr.
Mas du Petit Prince An equestrian’s
dream, this 15th-century farmhouse
in Gageron, five miles from central
Arles in the Camargue, has five simple
though tastefully decorated rooms and
a gîte. Doubles from €130. Tel. 33/6-
12-16-84-60; maspetitprince.com.
€229. 4 rue de la Monnaie; Tel. 33/4-
90-52-51-40; hotel-particulier.com.
Hôtel de l’Amphithéâtre This terrific
two-star hotel opened in 2002. Two
owners with impeccable taste renovated
the 16th-century home, which
now boasts spacious guest rooms,
high ceilings, stone tiles, wood beams
and warm bordeaux and beige tones.
Doubles from €55. 5-7 rue Diderot;
Tel. 33/4-90-96-10-30; hotelamphitheatre.fr.
Grand Hôtel Nord-Pinus Picasso
slept at this four-star hotel when he
came to town to watch bullfights.
Located in the lovely Place du Forum,
this 19th-century mansion is elegantly
decorated with antiques and Peter
Beard photos. Doubles from €150.
Place du Forum; Tel. 33/4-90-93-44-
44; nord-pinus.com.
Hôtel d’Arlatan Created in 1920, this
47-room hotel has been in the same
family for five generations. It practically
breathes history: Housed in a 15thcentury
residence that belonged to the
counts Arlatan de Bourbon, it was built
over the 4th-century vestiges of Em-
HOTELS
Hôtel le Calendal This 17th-century
building offers an enviable location
between the Amphithéâtre and the
Théâtre Antique, along with views of
one or the other from many of the
rooms. The owners’ continual improvements
and unfailing attention to guests
recently earned their establishment
three stars. Rooms are decorated in
the warm reds and yellows typical of
the area, the restaurant has a gorgeous
garden for breakfast or lunch,
and a brand-new spa features a Jacuzzi
looking directly onto the Arena—
very Roman indeed. Doubles are €109
year round. 5 rue Porte de Laure; Tel.
33/4-90-96-11-89; lecalendal.com.
Hôtel Particulier The most luxurious
hotel in town opened eight years ago
in the Hôtel de Chartrouse, a 19thcentury
mansion in the residential
neighborhood of La Roquette. Fourteen
rooms have lofty ceilings, spacious
bathrooms and a mix of classic
and white contemporary furnishings
with contrasting touches such as black
resin floors. There’s also a restaurant
with a fireplace and terrace, a spa with
a marble hammam and a long, narrow
pool in the courtyard. Doubles from
République, Tel. 33/4-90-43-34-91.
christian-lacroix.fr
La Chapellerie In case you forgot to
bring protection against the Provençal
sun, this boutique offers men and
women a fine selection of Stetsons,
berets, Borsalinos and the local equivalent
of cowboy hats. 28 rue Suisses;
Tel. 33/4-90-93-23-16.
Carnet de Voyage A great address
for high-quality regional products: fleur
de sel from the Camargue, ceramic
guinea hens, dishtowels and cotton
tote bags in multicolored stripes. 4 bis
rue Calade; Tel. 33/4-90-96-17-95.
Ici & Là Stock up on local goods at
this sweet-smelling boutique selling
Pastis, olive oil, almond-flower candles
and colorful bars of savon de Marseille
made with peaches, poppies or herbes
de Provence. 14 rue de la Calade; Tel.
33/4-90-96-22-04.
Actes Sud The Arles-based publisher
runs this cultural oasis in the Roquette
neighborhood; it’s a favorite local
hangout with an excellent bookstore,
a restaurant-café, an art cinema and a
hammam. Le Méjan, place Nina Berberova;
Tel. 33/4-90-49-56-77.
Harmonia Mundi The flagship store of
Arles’s classical music label sells CDs
and books (including many about Van
Gogh). 3-5 rue Président Wilson; Tel. 33/
4-90-93-65-39; harmoniamundi.com.
Galerie Huit English writer Julia de
Bierre moved to Arles two years ago and
has been renovating this extraordinary
17th-century mansion ever since, turning
it into a private home and art gallery
for temporary exhibits. She also plans
to open a chambre d’hôte for overnight
guests. 8 rue de la Calade; Tel. 33/4-
90-97-77-93; galeriehuit.com.
Arlatino Gallery A two-year-old gallery
opened by a couple of Parisians with an
emphasis on art from Latin America as well
as artists closer to home—such as Paco
Gomez, a mailman who creates amazing
Africanesque sculptures using tree trunks
and mailbag straps. 8 rue de la Liberté;
Tel. 33/4-90-18-58-27; arlatino.com.
Soleileis Homemade ice cream,
including the très Provençal flavor
THE BASICS
Getting There From Paris, take the
TGV from the Gare de Lyon to Avignon
Centre, then catch the local train to
Arles. For schedules and fares, go to
raileurope.com.
Lay of the Land Arles’s city center is
small and easily walkable. The Office
de Tourisme on the boulevard des
Lices offers monument passes, guided
walking tours and self-guided MP3
tours of Arles in French or English,
starting June 29 and running through
the summer. Their Web site offers a
wealth of information, from historic and
cultural briefings to hotel, restaurant
and event listings to Pdfs of maps and
brochures. tourisme.ville-arles.fr
Those wanting the personal touch
of a guided tour may want to contact
Claire Maurel, whose perfect English
and deep knowledge of the city make
for a pleasant, enriching experience.
Tel. 33/6-11-15-24-32, E-mail: claire@
arlacarte.com.
SUMMER FESTIVALS
Les Fêtes d’Arles A celebration of the
city’s rich history with events including
a parade of Arlesians in traditional costume
and courses camarguaises. June
7 through July 5; fetes-arles.com.
Les Rencontres d’Arles The worldrenowned
photography festival, now in
its 40th year. July 7 through 13, with
exhibitions on display through Sept 13.
rencontres-arles.com
Les Suds à Arles A world music
festival with performances by such
renowned talents as Cesária Evora
and Khaled. July 13 through 19;
suds-arles.com.
Peplum Festival Now in its 17th year,
this event features outdoor screenings
of movies from the ’50s and ’60s
with Roman themes. The venue? The
Théâtre Antique. August 24 through
30; festivalpeplum-arles.com.
Arelate Held to coincide with Peplum,
Arelate features historic re-enactments
from Roman times. Museums and
monuments also participate, offering
tours with costumed guides. August 23
through 30; festival-arelate.com.
RESTAURANTS
La Chassagnette In 2000, Arles’s favorite
heiress, Maja Hoffmann, opened
this organic restaurant in the Camargue,
15 minutes from the town center. The
bar is a renovated sheepfold with
high sloping ceilings and a dried-leaf
wall; an idyllic terrace (protected by
mosquito netting) looks onto a vast
organic garden cultivated by five
full-time gardeners. The young chef
Armand Arnal, a veteran of Ducasse
in New York, arrived here in 2006 and
received his first Michelin star this
year. He says he strives for “purity
in the plate, putting vegetables in
the forefront, using meat and fish as
seasonings.” A committed “locavore,”
Arnal gets most of his produce from
the restaurant’s garden, which boasts
170 varieties of herbs and vegetables—
including 13 kinds of basil. Lunch
menus from €34. 56 Domaine de
l’Armellière, Route du Sambuc; Tel.
33/4-90-97-26-96; chassagnette.fr.
Le Cilantro Chef Jérôme Laurent
worked at Ducasse’s Louix XV and at
the Hôtel Meridien in Boston before
returning to his native Arles to open
his own restaurant in the courtyard of
his family home, renovated as a small,
contemporary eatery with floor-toceiling
windows. Laurent received a
BOUTIQUES & GALLERIES
Maison Dervieux A family business
established in 1884, Maison Dervieux
is a favorite of Christian Lacroix’s, who
has been coming here since he was
a child. Two floors of an 18th-century
mansion are furnished with French—
mostly Provençal—antiques, vintage
dresses, old children’s toys and home
décor from such fine French houses
as Prelle, one of the last silk makers in
Lyon. Local products include checked
blankets by Brun de Vian-Tiran; resembling
Camargue horse blankets, they
are made of merino wool from sheep
from nearby Crau. 5 rue Vernon; Tel.
33/4-90-96-02-39; dervieux.com.
Christian Lacroix The homegrown
designer has two shops here, one
featuring his women’s ready-to-wear
label, the other carrying various brands
of clothing for men and women. Offerings
include his boldly colored men’s
shirts and velvet “gardian” jackets
inspired by those worn by Camargue
horsemen. 52 rue de la République,
Tel. 33/4-90-96-11-16; 30 rue de la
him his photos, and the painter took him under his wing.
This year, some 60,000 visitors are expected to attend Les Rencontres,
which has made Arles practically synonymous with photography.
Thanks to its influence, the Musée Réattu has built up
an invaluable collection of more than 4,000 photographs dating
back to the 1960s, including works donated by Clergue, Weston,
Adams and Man Ray. In 1983, the Ecole Nationale Supérieure de
la Photographie, the country’s only national school for photography,
was opened here. And in 2004, the city inaugurated a campus
for Supinfocom, a school of digital 3D imagery (in 2007, American
magazine 3D World ranked it first worldwide).
The city also boasts Europe’s second-largest diode screen. Two
years ago, when the architectural firm Moatti et Rivière was asked
to restore and revamp the Grande Halle, one of several dilapidated
hangars remaining on the former rail-repair yards, the team
wanted to give a nod to the city’s identity as a mecca for photography.
So they installed the 400-foot-long screen into the building’s
sloping roof. Arlesians were still fêting this bit of daring contemporary
architecture when they received jaw-dropping news from
Maja Hoffmann, the Swiss heiress to the Roche pharmaceutical
fortune: She intended to donate millions to turn the 20-acre railrepair
yards—now called the Parc des Ateliers—into a striking
“Cité de l’Image.”
A well-loved figure here, Hoffmann spent her childhood years
in the Camargue, where her
father worked to preserve wet-
Heiress Maya lands biodiversity. She owns
Hoffmann has a gourmet organic restaurant
hired no less a there and still has a home in
talent than Frank town. She has hired no less a
Gehry to design talent than Frank Gehry to de-
a brand-new sign a brand-new building to
building to house house the Luma Foundation,
the Luma Foun- which she created in 2004 to
dation, which produce artistic and cultural
she created in projects. Only a five-minute
2004 to produce walk from the Arena, it will
artistic and cul- contain facilities for experitural
projects. mental creation, photo conservation
and exhibitions, all
surrounded by a large public
garden—something currently
lacking in this city. The rest of the Parc will also be renovated to
accommodate Actes Sud’s new offices, the Ecole Nationale Supérieure
de la Photographie, the headquarters of Les Rencontres
d’Arles as well as artists’ residences, cinemas, a restaurant with a
panoramic view—even a new train station.
The overarching idea is to preserve the site’s industrial feel, with
most new construction built on and around the existing hangars.
Above all, it will remain open to the city, allowing Arlesians and
visitors to walk through freely. Completion is slated for 2013.
The question on everybody’s mind is whether Arles will experience
the so-called Bilbao effect, in which a post-industrial city,
a Frank Gehry building and exceptional cultural offerings spur
an economic boom by attracting millions of visitors from around
the world. The city’s leaders say it could be even better: After all,
Bilbao never had a Roman Amphitheater.
f
A sun-drenched salon
at Hôtel le Calendal.
France • summer 2009 49
48 France • summer 2009