Streets in Arles, if not all, don't seem to have changed for centuries.  In some parts of the town, narrow alleys between buildings with weathered blinds are so quiet in the middle of a hot summer afternoon.  Occasional sights of children riding their bikes or an old woman sitting by her shady door steps, however, make me realize that I am not alone here.

The summer sun blazes as hard as it can, and I know almost everyone is trying to stay indoors until it cools down later in the day.




  Arles backstreet

I heard a voice from around a corner.  There was a young woman on the street talking with a young man on the second floor of a house.  Are they friends or a couple?  I wouldn't know.  Just for a brief moment, I thought of a story, based in Provence, of Mireille and Vincent, written by Frederic Mistral.  It is about two young people who were madly in love but were not allowed to be together because of their different status in the society.  In the (tragic) end of a story, they proved their love was just as intense as the sun in the south of France.


Arles, France I

Click here for a larger view of this painting.

Media: Original watercolor on paper
Image Size: 21 x 14 in.
Purchase: Sold


Visit my gallery page at Dailypainters.com.