Arles Local Customs

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We attended a demonstration on how hair is dressed in the ancient Arlesian manner with an adult and a young girl. It is an extremely elaborate production. The process is an old custom and is employed by males and females in preparing for several festivals during the year and is enjoyed in many of the communities of the area with many different types of costumes. In the females of Arles they build a coiffure upon a special comb which is deeply set into the thickest hair on the crown. Of course it requires dense long hair.

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In the ArlatenMuseum are two floors of exhibits most of them arrays of cases of various materials of the life of the ordinary people of mostly the 19C. For example we see bread safes or hangers to prevent rodent loss or a double level bed for two children. There are cases of metal ends for hand tools and primitive musical instruments or obsolete ones like the serpent ( a lip vibrated horn) and even a bust of Mistral himself with a goatee.

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There are of other wax figures showing scenes of Arlesian 19C life such as a woman at prayer, or of a visit to the dress maker's shop. There are also cabinets with many examples of simple head dress styles and of gardian hats. Finally there is a scene inside a gardian's shack when they are out herding.

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In the Arlaten Museum is an amphibious dragon, the Tarasque, that was used in the annual Festival in Tarascon in the 19C. The festival is still held there on the last Sunday in June. The city is 10 miles north of Arles. The festivities were begun by "good king Rene" in the mid 15C. Ste. Martha vanquished the dragon in Tarascon shortly after she arrived from Jerusalem in about AD 50. (We will write more about this under Tarascon).

The major sights at the Arlaten Museum are the dioramas of scenes of every day life of the increasingly distant recent past. The customs and dress are now only seen in action if there is a festival or a special displays by groups who like to keep these memories alive. The scenes in the museum are carefully created. Alone they are worth the admission, but there are also large collections of various activities and crafts.

The cleverness of sturdy wooden shutters on most windows in France and Italy, right? To a first time visitor, me, I found this custom of architecture wise. Closed -- They keep the hot sun out when you want it out. I'm sure they help rooms stay warmer in the winter, too. The windows in this photo must have been on an climatized room ( air conditioned).

I was in Europe for over a week when I realized --- no window screens!! This is fairly unheard of in the USA. I asked my Paris hostel roomies, from Dublin, about it. Window screens? What are those? I had to describe them, as they had never seen any before. Don't birds fly in your windows? No, never, she answered. Pretty smart birds in Europe, I said. Later, in my Florence hotel I met a dumb pigeon!! The desk clerk tried to get it to abandon the perch outside my room door, at the request of another guest down the hall, but it was "no go." It was a pretty view afterall, so was the pigeon smart or dumb? I don't know ;>)) Maybe it just wanted a comfortable hallway to spend the night!

Go to the web address below to get some GREAT and up-to-date INFORMATION on events, traditions, history, monuments, restaurants, accommodations, etc. from an online version of the Arles' Tourist Office.

Arles does its best to keep it's visitors entertained.
The free broadsheet 'Farandole' gives details of everything from theatre, concerts, fairs and exhibitions to local basketball results.

You can find and pick up the free newspaper, with over 35000 entries, every month in the various business's, or tradesmen of Arles (and surrounding areas), town halls, offices of tourism...

Or go online to: http://www.arles.cci.fr/farandole/index.asp