Paul Cezanne and Aix-en Porvence_ France

The entrance of Paul Cezanne's Atelier 

Paul Cezanne(1839-1906) who was a French artist and the one of the Post-Imprressionists worked every morning in this studio from 1902 until his death in 1906.

Darrin by the main door

I bought a few post cards of the Cezanne's paining.

This is very well-maintained Cezanne's studio on the second floor, safekeeping the objects he treasured, the models of his last still lives, his furniture and his work tools.

Looking up the tree in the garden, green leaves were gleaming with the bright blue sky.  It's so pretty!

A narrow road passes secretively among the trees in the front yard.  

Darrin setting up the timer of his camera

Taking a good rest under the tree

Darrin and I drove up to another spot of the attractions, Painter's Ground to see Sainte-Victorie mountain.   

It was very pleasant to walk up to the hill, having such an amazing view. 

Aix-en Provence has created the Painter's Ground on top of the hill facing the Saint-Victorie mountain, displaying nine reproductions of his painting series, Saint-Victories.

Beautiful scenery spread out before my eyes.

Paul Cezzane painted 44 oil paintings and 43 water-colours of the Sainte-Victorie mountain.  

Here's the one of them.

 Mont Sainte-Victorie (1885-1887)

historical city Chester_ England

It rained all the morning in Chester, yet the roman soldier's evangelically making a speech on something on the street.

W Chester bookstore

Getting heavy rain, I sheltered myself in the bookstore for the time being.  I looked around some books and ended up buying two books. One for me, one for Darrin.  

Chester City Centre 

Chester has a number of the black-and-white buildings from the Victorian taste.  

Needless to say, the city looks prettier and more photogenic on a wet day. 

Having lunch with a cup of coffee at Piccolino

Eastgate Street

Chester is a small-sized city but the one of the England's beautiful historic cities having lots of the attractions for tourist.

East-gate clock located in the city centre is a big landmark. 

Rain suddenly stopped in the afternoon.   The young ginger's performing on the street.

A beautiful view of the River Dee from Chester Weir Handbridge

 The River Dee flows through Wales and England. 

It just started becoming dark outside around 10 pm. 

The old shops and pubs caught my eyes.  

Even getting darker, I decided to walk around the city a little more, and I ran across Darrin and his party of four having some wine in the restaurant, The Grill near the hotel. 

They were patiently waiting for a big meal, Beef Wellington which is a filet steak wrapped in puff pastry.  

It looks like "WOW!"

 *image from wikipedia

Pont Du Gard, Nimes_ France

We were getting closed to the site of the Pont Du Gard (Roman Aqueduct).

Taking picture of the cypresses all very tall on the way to the site.

This is what we would like to see!

The bridge is located in a very calm and pleasant park surrounding by trees.  We found many people having a picnic and doing cycling around here.  If you look closely, even you will see people swimming in the river Gard under the bridge.

The Pont du Gard is built around two thousand years ago and still the one of the veritable masterpieces as for the technological prowess and its simple beauty.  It's registered in UNESCO world heritage site since 1985.

visited Gordes, Luberon_ France

Gordes is the one of the most beautiful villages in France.

It takes about an hour and a half by car from Aix-en Provence we had stayed.

The village is built on the foothills of the Monts of Vaucluse.  The buildings and houses stand on the sharp cliff on the mountain. 

The view from the village is a greeny beautiful panorama out across a broad plain.

People live here must drive and park in a very narrow and steep uphill road, so they seem prefer a small-sized car.

Darrin's in a good mood.

The lovely rocky houses on the small alley.

The hollywood film, A Good Year(2006) taken up in Gordes.

Arles and Vincent Van Gogh_ France

Darrin and I had a walking tour in Arles along a sign of Vincent van Gogh.  van Gogh moved from Paris and stayed only 15 months in Arles, but he produced as many as over 300 paintings and drawings in this era.  It's amazing!

The walking tour map got a list of the attractions painted by van Gogh, and we walked along the yellow signs on the ground showing direction.

Langlois Bridge with Washerwomen

We decided to get this spot first, since it is a little bit out-of-the-way. 

  

Cafe Terrace At Night

van Gogh used starry backgrounds on the painting, Cafe Terrace at Night for the first time and he went on to paint star-filled skies in Starry Night.

Courtyard of the Hospital

After a huge altercation with Paul Gauguin in 1888, van Gogh cut off his left ear, and he was hospitalized in here over a few months.  It is now transformed to a cultural and university center. 

I went up to the second floor to get a nice angle of the beautiful garden.

Then, I got it!!

Falling Autumn leaves (at Les Alyscamps)

van Gogh painted a pair of Alyscamps, an ancient Roman necropolis.  Paul Gauguin visited to Arles and they went out for an outdoor painting exercise produced Alyscamps series together.  

Les Alyscamps (1888)_ Paul Gauguin

The Yellow House

van Gogh rented four rooms of the yellow house in 1888, and Gauguin lived with him for nine weeks.  He produced abundantly in this house such as, 

           

                  Bedroom in Arles

  
                                                                                                           Paul Gauguin's Armchair

              Van Gogh's Chair                                                                     Vase with Twelve Sunflowers

  

  

Entrance to the Public Park 

van Gogh depicted the entrance to the park where a yellow avenue led into the park with its green trees.  The park in reality wasn't that colorful as much as his painting, but still nice and cozy.  We sat for a while and took a good rest on the bench. 

The Old Mill

We ended up getting lost and it wasn't easy to recognize the spot on the map because none of the buildings near here looked like a mill.   The old mill van Gogh painted already has been transformed for years, but we still can see a similar shape of the one in his painting.

He produced over one thousand works devoting a lifetime to painting, nonetheless he could sell ONLY ONE painting in his life time.  It was "Red Vineyard (1888)" sold in Brussels for 400 francs. (Oh dear! -_-;;)

Red Vineyard(1888)