The Reader, Apt

This has been here for decades and still catches my eye from time to time.
 

Hemingway would drink here

I kinda doubt it.
 

Arles

This was one of the "photography" exhibits at the Rencontres D'Arles 2016 that we attended this year with our two favorite Germans. I consisted of eight projected videos of bottles being kicked or rolling on brick or cement, accompanied by a very loud soundtrack of said bottles rolling. The sound filled the whole building, so that you heard it even when you were viewing one of the 8 or 10 other exhibits. I hope Lucien Clergue looked down approvingly. We didn't.

Saignon

Another shot with the pinhole lens I bought by mistake. Lets me be a painter without that pesky learning curve:-)

Saignon

Right across from our rental is a lovely building that houses La Maison des Arts et Lettres. It has a fine bistrot, where you can get a great buffet lunch, made from scratch every day. You can also rent one of a number of lovely suites with kitchens. There are two painting workshops in the summer with Andrew Petrov as the teacher. Before and between the workshops he paints around the village. One day I saw this work drying on his window sill.

Artist's shop, Lourmarin

Back alley art gallery, Apt

This pops up every market day.

Past mascots, Rencontres D'Arles

Here are some of the previous year's symbols. Notice the dots, that I mention again a few posts down.

Chema Madoz exhibit, Arles

I must admit that I had never heard of Chema Madoz until this exhibit. My loss. There were many walls covered with his whimsical, funny, brilliant work. Beautiful prints. As soon as I got home I ordered a book of his work. What a mind.

Gallery, Arles

I am sorry to have lost this photographer's name. He or she made these huge and well printed pictures that repeated the same scene, one of which, on the right is of a person going around the corner of a house. It was not fascinating.

Field colors along the Apt bike path, west,

Change.....Thym te Voila

Thym te Voila, one of our three favorite restaurants in the area, has changed. The previous owner decided to open a cooking school and to concentrate on catering. Our first meal with the new owners was  perfect, so we came back a few weeks later on market. The square was alive with people as usual, but a DJ had set up nearby and was playing the music way too high, which made conversation difficult. And the food suffered. This was chili con carne. It was pretty bland. The restaurant is owned by a young couple and I am sure these are just teething pains. We will definitely go back next year to see how they've progressed.

Art for sale, Lourmarin market

We went to the Friday market in Lourmarin, with our friends Ian and Jane, every week of our stay. We would go to Bamboo Thai after the market for a change of pace from Provencal fare. I believe these pieces are made by some sort of printer. I brought some posters back from Roussillon years ago and my frame expert sent them off to have them converted to oil on canvas. Very convincing and much less expensive.

Kinetic sculpture, Lacoste

Roussillon trashcan.

This is a closeup of either a trashcan or metal barrier in Roussillon. Somebody designed this for the town and figured out how to punch it into metal. Very nice.

Abstract art, Roussillon

There is an art gallery across the street from these paintings. There are always paintings hung on this wall if it's good weather. About ten years ago there was a very nice piece hung out and I stopped to photograph. There was a furious banging on the glass of the gallery, made by the owner, yelling at me to stop taking pictures, in a public place, of his painting. I waved and walked on. Every year since I have stopped and pretended to take a snap. I think he gave up last year. I just never understood why he hangs here and then defends the paintings like a rabid dog.

Litterbug, Isle s/l Sorgue

Janie in Toon Town

We had a little Absinthe for lunch and suddenly I knew why van Gogh painted like he did.

Big bird, Apt

Fishrail, Cassis

A clever sculpture, leading to a seafood restaurant.