For this week's blog, I deliberately chose a picture of "Tourne-sols" or sunflowers. Those of you who have visited southern France probably know that these sturdy flowers turn with the sun. If you pass by a field in the morning, they will be facing east. If you go by towards evening, their faces are now westward, always facing the light. Somehow it fits with the week we just enjoyed with another set of friends, this time from Switzerland.

Just like the tournesols, our Swiss friends, who live in Zurich, love the French sun, & we certainly got it this past weekend! Along with the sun, we got the "canicule" (heat wave) that affected all of Europe. African air swept up & took over. Even the tournesols were wilting.

That didn't stop us from exploring our area. We started in Roman Nimes & went on to le Pont du Gard on our first day together. See our album titled "Old Friends, New Places" for a taste (literally--lots of food!) of our fun times together. Our second day together, we started in St. Remy-de-Provence, our first being La Mausole de St. Paul, the asylum where Vincent Van Gogh went after his quarrel with Gauguin. We were delighted to see that they have upgraded the visit with interesting & elightening information about VVG's illness & standard treatments for the mentally ill in the late 1800s. Although the treatment techniques were brutal, & so was the attitude toward "the unhappy ones", St. Paul was one of the better asylums of that period, & VVG did experience some peace while there. He created 142 oils & 150 drawings in the 53 weeks he spent at St. Paul's. He had come here, of course, for the LIGHT, & even in his dark periods, the light soothed him.

In a hotel next door to sunny St. Paul's, Dr. Jean-Marc Boulon created an organization called VALETUDO (I assume the meaning is similar to "All Lives Matter" in the US), whose goals are to guide the cultural development of St. Paul, & to provide additional techniques of treatment to those who are suffering like VVG did. One of these techniques is art therapy. The patients, like Vincent, come to St. Paul's cloisters to paint. VALETUDO hires artists & art therapists to guide patients to express their feelings. The boutique at St. Paul displays & sells their art, & the proceeds are split among the patient artists.

His book, titled "Vincent Van Gogh's Life, Works, & Illnesses", explains the origins & the development of VVG's illness. Most likely part heriditary, it was complicated by "poisons" (absinthe, turpentine, & exposure to the gas used for lighting) & excessive drinking. In today's world, the diagnosis would most likely be "bipolarity", with drug treatment of anti-psychotics for the manic periods, & ant-depressants for the depressive periods. And add to that ART THERAPY!

From St. Paul's, we went on to lunch in lovely St. Remy, then on to ARLES, a city known for VVG's art (he produced a LOT of art there as well!) as well as his passionate blow-up with Gauguin. But our mission there was to visit a brand new cultural center called "Le Parc des Ateliers", which is owned & operated by the "Fondation Luma Arles". Luma is the root of the word "lumiere" (light). A super name--this new creative idea is going to bring a lot of "LUMIERE" to the somewhat tired city of Arles.

In 2014, Luc Hoffmann, heir to the La Roche Pharmaceutcal fortune, bought 13 hectares (similar to acres) of a former site used by the French Rail System (SNCF) for repair facilities for its many trains. Abandoned for more modern digs in 1986, the site was ready for a face lift, & Luc Hoffman had an idea. Here's the mission of Luma Arles: "to create an environment that promotes meetings & interactions between artists, thinkers, & public. This allows us to look at bigger issues cities face all over the world & to foster a sense of individual & collective responsibility in addressing those issues." Whew!

In 2016, Hoffmann's daughter, Maja Hoffmann, now president of the board for Luma Arles, launched the building of a 100,000,000 euro project on the site. At the moment, it has a large exhibition building & a beautiful bathroom, & the beginnings of a Frank Gehry tower. It will eventually contain all kinds of studios & exhibition spaces. But what blows me away is the IDEAS they are generating. The transformation of the dark old SNCF factory buildings to the bright & shining Ghery tower reminds me of the dark Middle Ages merging into the shining light of the Renaissance.

Luma Arles was not at all on our radar, until Les saw a poster advertising an exhibit of Annie Leibowitz photos, which was our destination. The exhibit was a time machine into the 1970s & 1980s, but it's just the beginning. Luma Arles has acquired all of Annies archives for their "Living Archives" project. See our photo album titled "Sweet Home Chicago in Arles? The Fondation Luma & Annie Liebowitz" for a look at both this exciting space & Annie's photos. Funnily enough, while going through her photos, our Swiss friends recognized as many faces, if not more, than we did! And if you do look, we'd love your comments! That was a wild time in the USA!

Another Luma Arles project coming up is "La Cusine des Forges", where the Fondation will bring together women from Provence, Morroco, Spain, Lebanon & Senegal to "cook & serve meals inspired by their rich culinary traditions". They will be assisted by professionals but will serve lunch daily from 12:00-15:00 right there in Arles, from July 4-24. We will be there!

We hope YOUR summer days are filled with sunshine, good friends, good food, & new experiences, like ours were last week. Vive la Lumiere!

A bientot,

Elise & Les