Curious Traveler

(soothing music) - "Curious Traveler" is made possible by the following.

(train whirring by) (quirky notes) (upbeat music) (music ending) (Italian music playing) Ah, Provence.

Known for its sunny skies, colorful cafes, and the natural beauty that inspired some of the most famous artists the world has ever known.

And of course, that perfect climate is also known for producing some of the finest foods and finest wines in the world.

We have chosen two cities to visit in this dreamy region: Aix-en-Provence and Arles.

So, here's what I'm curious about in Aix-en-Provence and Arles: who painted some iconic swirling stars here?

What does the word arena mean and why does it have to be so gross?

Where are these lovely ladies looking?

Why are these apples so famous?

When was this home considered to be the prettiest mansion in all of Provence?

And how did this cute little candy make a future queen smile?

So much to be curious about in Provence.

(Italian music continuing) Aix-en-Provence or as the locals call it simply Aix is so beautiful that its streets are lined with golden yellow mansions and shaded by beautiful bright green trees.

It's so inspirational that Paul Cezanne did most of his masterpieces here, and it is so sweet that it even has its own candy named for its favorite king.

Bienvenue a Aix-en-Provence.

This is the picture perfect, elegant Cours Mirabou, a kind of the (speaking French) of Aix.

What you see today is thanks to a massive city redesign in the 19th century, but Aix's roots go much, much deeper.

So, let's stroll to the end of Cours Mirabou to the Place de la Rotonde to find out why Aix is known as the city of a 1000 fountains.

This is the largest and perhaps most important fountain in this city, the Fountaine de La Rotonde.

It is a symbol of the tearing down of the old walls and the building of a new entrance to the city.

At the very top, we have three very important ladies.

We have the fine arts facing towards Avignon.

We have commerce and agriculture facing towards Marseille.

And then we have justice looking straight into the heart of Aix.

But perhaps the bigger picture is the bigger statement.

All this plentiful water here in this giant supersized fountain is also a tribute to Aix's Roman roots, because of course, it was the Romans who created the water system.

And did you know that Aix actually translates to water?

Yep, Aix is an old (speaking French) word, which comes from the Latin aqua meaning water, of course.

And those Latin and Roman roots flow plentifully here in Aix.

Around 122 BC, the Romans decided that Aix was a pretty nice place to live, because of the natural springs here.

So for hundreds of years, simple fountains and wells were used for drinking water.

Until finally in the 17th century, gorgeous fountain sculptures were built, giving the nickname of the city of 1000 fountains.

While there may not be exactly 1000, each fountain has its own theme, some with curious symbolism, others telling a curious history.

Like this one at the opposite end of cool Cours Mirabeau.

This fountain is dedicated to a duke, a count, and a king, but you only see one person, right?

Well, this was a very special leader who was all three, in fact, a beloved leader of the region known as Good King Renee.

In fact, the king was known for bringing prosperity to the region, which is why he is holding in his left hand a wreath of flowers and grapes to show the wealth and the bounty that he brought here.

But there's something quite curious about this fountain as well.

If you look up and see his beautiful chiseled face, you might think, oh, Good King Renee was such a handsome guy.

But apparently according to legend, it was decided that he wasn't handsome at all.

In fact, they had to use a model for his own sculpture.

That is not very nice.

(water flowing from fountain) From history to mythology, there is one more fountain I want to show you.

And if you follow Rue Cardinale, you will find some cute little creatures pointing in four precise directions.

In the center of the Mazarin District which we will learn about later, is this beautiful fountain, the Fontaine de Quatre-Dauphins or the fountain of the four dolphin.

Now of course, since it was built in 1655, you might think that these dolphin look a bit more like fish, but we're gonna let that go, because that is not the most curious thing about this.

Each of the four dolphin represent one of the four cardinal directions.

So we have north, south, east, and west.

And then as you look up, you can see what the dolphins are sort of protecting.

It is an Egyptian obelisk.

And then way up at the top, you'll see something quite unusual.

It is a pine cone.

And in fact, that's not the only pine cone you can see around here.

You can see them dotted all here around you.

Now, the pine cone has been a symbol in everything, from Egyptian mythology to Christianity.

That is a lot of symbolism for a roundabout.

And this beautiful baroque fountain lies within a special neighborhood of Aix, full of beautiful mansions for a very specific reason.

In the 17th century, the Archbishop of Aix named Michele Mazarin, created this ultra luxurious estate, and that's where we get the name Mazarin District.

And of the dozens of mansions here, only a few had a garden like this in the back.

And a private courtyard like this in the front, including this one, the Hotel De Caumont, built in 1715, and at the time, it was considered the most beautiful mansion in all of Provence.

(upbeat orchestra music) So, guests would enter it through that grand doorway there below and then ascend this very elegant staircase, as they made their way up to the top.

And this staircase back in this time period was considered a staircase of vanity of sorts, because back in the centuries before people showed off their wealth with their cars, they would show off with their staircase.

So the fancier the staircase, the wealthier the aristocratic family.

But that is not all.

You probably have already noticed.

There's two really muscular guys kind of framing the staircase here.

Well, this first guy here with the big bulging biceps, he faced people as they came up at the stairs and he has the face of youth.

Again, a nod to that vanity.

So as you ascend the staircase, of course, you're beautiful and you're young, but then when you come back down the staircase, you have a different face altogether.

This is an older face, you can tell with those dark circles under his eyes.

And that mustache and that kind of woe-is-me pose that he has there.

So, the idea is you come up young, and then you go back down old.

So my question is, if you age that much in between, how long were those parties upstairs?

(upbeat orchestra music) Parties and gatherings and everyday lives all happened within these luxurious walls in room after room of beauty.

One of the owners was Pauline De Caumont, which is where we get the name Hotel De Caumont.

This my friends, was her bedroom.

Everything is over the top, from the gorgeous reds here on the couches to the wallpaper to the (speaking French) there up on the ceiling, you can see which was typical of the French style of the time to all of the different paintings, all framed in gold and this stunning fireplace with marble inlay.

So, all of these beautiful furnishings, we have the red chaise longue here in that beautiful Louis the 15th style which you can always tell if you look closely here.

And it has that gorgeous little S-curve there on the legs.

Onto the four poster canopy bed.

You can see it kind of comes up to a dome at the top.

And this particular bed was unique for the time period, because the pieces could actually come apart.

So it was easier for cleaning or to move around.

Speaking of cleaning, Pauline of course never did her own cleaning, but they accounted for that too.

If you look here behind the screen, you can kind of make out the little outline what looks like a little secret door.

Well, that was the door that her servants would come in and out of to do that cleaning.

But also behind that door she would never speak of it was also her own personal sal de bac.

Or as they also say here in France, (speaking French).

(upbeat orchestra music continuing) Next, we leave the luxury of the mansions in the Mazarin District (French music) and trek up a hill to get inspired by one of his history's great artists who also happened to be a lifelong resident of Aix-en-Provenance, post-impressionist leader Paul Czanne.

Here in Aix, Czanne famously painted the "Mont Sainte-Victoire" over and over and over again, developing his new style.

But not all of Cezanne's works were done (speaking French).

In fact, follow me to this little hideout of sorts where he painted some of his most famous works.

This is Cezanne's atelier, today in museum.

Cezanne's paints, coat, and bowler hat are all still here, almost as if waiting for the artist to come back any minute and start painting again.

To tell us more about Cezanne's life here is assistant operations manager, Elodie L'Huillier.

- For the last four years of his life, and he had an apartment downtown, so he was coming here every day, sometime twice a day.

So walking up the hill to work here.

- I walked up that hill as well.

Was he carrying his art equipment and things?

- No.

- Everything was here, - Everything was here.

- Ah, I bet he was thinking on the way as he was going up.

He's like, what am I gonna create?

Cezanne designed the perfect art studio for himself with soaring high ceilings and large windows to let in the northern light and plenty of shutters to control the brighter southern light.

He thought of everything down to the last detail, including the exact color he wanted for the walls.

- He wanted the wall to be gray.

So it's a mix of black and white, but blue and okra as well.

They thought that you couldn't be a painter if you didn't know how to paint a gray, and a gray, it's not just black and white.

He has to add some other color.

- Of course, of course.

And you can see that perfect gray wall in the background of some of his most famous paintings, including "Basket of Apples" and "Still Life with Plaster Cupid."

This painting has his signature tilted tables and impossible perspectives.

Cezanne famously said that art is a harmony in parallel to nature, not an imitation of nature.

And to demonstrate this concept, he only needed the simplest of objects: apples, oranges, a bottle, and a table.

The art that a lot of people will recognize, this still life.

He wasn't the first person to do it.

He wasn't the last, but he did it in his own special way.

- When he was painting, he was walking all around the composition.

And when you watch the paintings, that's paintings, sometime you have the impression that everything is falling about- - To fall over?

- Yes.

- Yes!

- And for example, as we try to recreate here, you see the composition create a triangle.

- Yes.

- So, that is in his painting.

- And I thought I remembered that for almost all the like- it almost always formed a pyramid of some sort.

- Yeah.

- Yeah.

Whether it was off kilter a little bit or right in the center.

So even this right now is doing that.

genius.

And that brings us to the important role Cezanne plays in art history.

His pairing down of objects to their simplest shapes of circles, squares, cylinders, cones, or triangles paved the way for cubists like Picasso.

(French music) (music ending) Moving around the studio, there are even more wonders to discover, including this giant contraption a specially made easel, which played a very important role in one of Cezanne's most famous series, "The Bathers."

Cezanne painted several "Bathers" paintings, the largest one was seven feet by eight feet.

And every once in a while, Cezanne wanted to take these giant works of art outside to see how they looked in the natural sunlight.

But they were too big to fit down the stairs.

And of course, they were still wet.

So, he needed another curious contraption: this little door tucked into the corner.

So as he passes out, he had a trusted person on the other end.

- Yes, the gardener.

- Okay.

(laughing) - So with the- - Very quick person, yeah.

- Help of the gardener, Mr. Valier, he could slide the painting outside in the garden to make his adjustment in the daylight.

- And as far as we know, did they ever have any mishaps?

Did he ever- - I have no idea.

- He painted over it and said, "No, no, no.

I meant to do that."

- But when Cezanne was not satisfied, he was- He used to throw the painting.

- He goes, I'll do another one.

- And the gardener said that there are more painting in the tree than inside the studio.

- Oh my gosh.

And the gardener collects them up, and now they're worth millions.

(French music) But no, I wouldn't bother looking up into these trees today.

Not much of a chance of a rare Czanne painting still here after more than 100 years.

(soothing music) Next, we leave lovely Aix for a little while and head west to Arles, which has many similarities to Aix, a fascinating Roman history and its own important painter.

The first thing you'll notice about Arles is just how darn pretty it is.

Sunny yellow buildings with bright blue shutters, perky pink flowers, and cute little cafes, where wilding away an afternoon without your cell phone is the dreamiest of experiences.

It's no surprise that one of the most famous artists in history was inspired here.

(soothing upbeat music continuing) Vincent Van Gogh moved from Paris to Provence in 1888 for the light and the color.

He lived here in Arles for only two years.

But in that short period of time, he painted dozens of landscapes, still lives, his yellow house, his yellow bedroom with that wonderfully wonky perspective, his friends including the postman, and those iconic sunflowers.

And the wonderful thing is that today, you can walk along the Van Gogh route with little plaques marking the exact spots where he painted those famous works.

This scene you probably recognize.

It is of course, the inspiration for Van Gogh's "Cafe Terrace at Night" with those beautiful, bright yellows that kind of lit up the night and then complimented by his beautiful night skies with those gorgeous little swirly stars, the same type that he used in "The Starry Night."

But even though "Cafe Terrace at Night" is of course set at night, Van Gogh never used any black in his night sky.

That is because he believed that the night was more alive and color-filled than the day.

Something you may not know about this fascinating painting is that inside the cafe in the painting, there are exactly 12 people, and the one person in the center is a little bit taller than the rest and has long hair.

And behind that center person is a window with a window pane almost looking like a cross.

So some art historians believe that this painting is actually inspired by Leonardo da Vinci's "The Last Supper."

It's an interesting theory.

While the composition isn't the same between the two paintings, the figures could be.

You can see those 12 figures surrounding a 13th figure in the center standing taller than the rest with that window in the back that could be interpreted as a cross.

(whimsical music) Next from a cafe terrace at night to those iconic starry stars at night, we mosey from the city squares over to the Rone River for the inspiration of one of Van Gogh's most famous paintings.

In 1889, Van Gogh stood here on Plaza La Martin to paint one of his most famous works, "The Starry Night Over the Rone," not to be confused with "The Starry Night," which he painted a bit later.

Van Gogh chose the spot, because he lived in his famous yellow house just a few minutes away.

And also because this was a really great spot to kind of work out his obsession.

And that obsession, of course, was light breaking through the darkness of night.

And from this spot, he could see light from two different sources, one nature made and one manmade.

Let's talk about the manmade one first.

If you can see that bridge over my shoulder here, in 1889, for the first time, we had this crazy invention called gas lighting.

And there were gas street lamps all along the bridge and also all along the walkway here, along the river bend.

So, he kind of played with that light as it reflected on the water.

That second source that he's really famous for were those swirly, twirly wonderful stars up in the night sky.

So he took those stars, made them bright, bright yellow and reflected those on the water as well.

(whimsical music continuing) Soon after he painted this painting, as we know, he entered a mental asylum.

But there is hope to be found in this particular work of art.

In the bottom corner right here along the river's edge, we see a happy couple.

Well, at least we think they're happy.

And of course, happiness was something that eluded poor Van Gogh, as he will be forever known as the quintessential tortured artist.

Which brings us to our last painting location, a garden in the courtyard of a hospital.

We all know the story.

Van Gogh, the tortured artist, the mad genius cut off his ear in a fit of passion.

Now, whether it was the entire ear or the tip of the ear or his ear lobe, we do know he wasn't just trying to pierce his ear for an earring.

We also don't know the reason why he did this.

And the theories are all over the place.

Everything from getting into an argument with his fellow artist, Paul Gauguin, or being really upset that his brother Theo was getting married or perhaps everyone's favorite, that he actually cut it off to give as a gift- I know, totally gross- to his girlfriend or to a prostitute.

What we do know is that this was the hotel where he received treatment, (speaking French).

Now, while he was recovering, he still continued to paint, still obsessed with the beauty of the light and all those yellows and the sunshine here of beautiful Arles.

And this was the garden that he painted in the courtyard called (speaking French).

And in honor of Van Gogh, to this day, the garden is kept just as it was when he was here.

(soothing piano music) After Van Gogh checks out of the hospital, he eventually leaves Arles and goes to nearby St. Remy, where he checks in to a mental hospital.

It was there that he created his famous "Cypresses," his famous "Irises," and his most famous work, "Starry Night."

With those signature swirling skies and moody atmosphere, interpretations of this work have been everything from life and death to simply hope.

(piano music continuing) (piano music ending) Okay, let's cheer things up a bit.

So back to those picture (upbeat music) perfect streets and squares and cafes.

As you stroll them, you will come across something ginormous, sticking out like a sore thumb in the middle of the city.

Hmm, what was it?

What was it?

Oh yeah, this.

The ancient Roman arena of Arles.

(upbeat horn music) Arles is one of the oldest cities in all of France.

And the Romans settled here around 123 BC.

To explain the importance of this ancient monument is local guide Sian Griffiths Bell.

- The Roman concept of keeping everybody happy was bread and circuses.

So keep them fed, keep them entertained, and then they'll be, they'll be yours.

- And I think that's really interesting to think about, because it wasn't as if, hey, we're giving this to you, because we love our citizens so much, we want you to be happy.

It's more of a control sort of thing.

We don't want you to rise up against us.

- Well, that's exactly that.

- Great.

- The Arles Arena is about 1/4 of the size of the mothership, the Colosseum in Rome.

All the smaller arenas across the Roman Empire had the same design as the Colosseum, including those ingenious Roman arches, here stacked three high, and elaborate sunshades like these would've been spread out and retracted using elaborate pulleys.

But what the audience was watching wasn't exactly Wimbledon.

Don't expect any records of bingo, ping-pong, or checkers going on in this entertainment venue.

So, I'm so afraid to ask this question, but what kind of games happened here?

- All right, look- - They're not fuzzy, warm and fuzzy games for the most part.

What kind of games?

- They were quite nasty and blood.

And in fact, the word arena, the Latin word arena means sand.

- Okay.

- And so the Romans use sand to cover the ring as we do today.

- I think I know why.

- 'Cause of course, yeah.

It was a perfect, the covering sort of mop up any blood that was spilled.

Yeah, soaks it up.

And then a quick brush.

- So gross.

The games usually included three rounds of hunting and killing of animals and the fighting and killing of humans.

So let's skip over that part and get back to the architecture, which alas was pretty gross too.

So, we've got a little entrance here.

Someone would go to their seat and also it would be how they could get out of the arena fairly quickly.

And there's a wonderful term for that in the design of how you wanna get your guests in and out pretty quickly.

What is that wonderful term?

- Well, it doesn't sound very charming.

- It does not sound very charming.

- But the French word is vomitaire.

- Of course it is.

- Comes from the Latin vomitorium, which comes from the Latin verb vomitaire.

- Okay.

- Which means to expel forcibly, which of course is what happens.

- That's what you're doing!

It's expelling humans forcibly instead of your lunch.

- Well, that's it.

- And these exits and the stairs and the seating was designed so skillfully that- - The entire arena, 20,000 spectators could flow out back onto the streets within 7 to 10 minutes.

- 7 to 10 minutes.

The whole arena?

- The whole arena.

- That's incredible!

- It is.

- Okay, let's leave the gross ancient history behind.

And fast forward to a time when the sand of this arena didn't soak up blood, but instead was a lovely little town square.

I saw this and I was like, oh my goodness, there's holes that must have just been through time.

It's not cannonballs, it's not erosion.

This tells us about the next phase of history.

Why are these little notches important?

- This was because in the Middle Ages, these arenas became fortified towns.

- Okay.

- For fear of invasions, fear of the plague.

The towns people moved in, they blocked up all of the arches, and they built watchtowers, and they built about 200 houses, 2 churches, and a little village green inside.

And so these holes date from then.

- Amazing, a little town within the town of Arles.

But whether the town's folk continue to refer to exiting their city as vomiting themselves out of it, we may never know.

(upbeat music) Okay, time for something a bit more pleasant.

For our last stop, we head back to Aix-en-Provence for a curious confection.

Remember this guy?

The king whose face wasn't pretty enough for his own statue?

But don't feel too bad for Good King Renee, because he has another sweeter legacy here in Provence too: the legend of the calisson.

To learn all about it, we visit the Roy de Renee Fabricacion de Calisson, an entire factory, museum, and shop dedicated to the signature candy of the city.

In 1454, Good King Renee gets married, and his wedding day was going to be a joyous event on all accounts, except for one little tiny problem.

Apparently his bride-to-be never smiled, but the king had a trick up his sleeve.

He decided to have a little candy just like this one made just for her out of ingredients found in his garden, things like almonds and melon and oranges.

So, he had the candy created, he presented it to her on their wedding day.

She took one bite and finally smiled.

After she took a bite, she said to the king, "What do you call these precious little candies?"

And he said, "Calisson," which translates to these are little hugs.

And today you can see how those little hugs are made, still using almonds, melons, and oranges grown in Provence and using some of those centuries old techniques, along with a little splash of modern machinery.

Inside the factory is a lovely little museum where you can learn about the calisson's history, including the blessing of the Calisson Festival, where, that's right, you can have your calisson blessed inside a church.

That ought to tell you how much the people of Provence love their calisson.

(French music continuing) So, from fancy fountains topped with allegories, kings, dolphins, and pine cones, to an artsy hideaway where apples and oranges and wine bottles help to shape art history, to one of the oldest cities in France with an ancient arena to prove it, where the games were gross and the names of its exits even grosser.

But all those images get washed away with its gorgeous sunny streets, colorful cafes, and starry skies, which inspired one of the greatest painters who ever lived.

And finally, to the essence of this gastronomic region, a curious confection called calisson, which made a queen and everyone who's ever tasted it, smile.

Aix-en-Provence and Arles have so much to be curious about.

Thank you for joining us on our educational journey.

And hopefully now you're even more curious about the who, what, where, why, when, and how's of Aix and Arles.

As they say here, (speaking French).

(French music continuing) (music ending) "Curious Traveler" is made possible by the following.

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