Easter Feria in Arles

Arles: famous for Van Gogh having lived & painted there, for its Roman ruins, for its Easter Week ‘Feria’. We went to Arles on Good Friday, at the start of the Feria d’Arles. It was a lovely day, all the streets were blocked off, there was a really festive air. We wandered the streets, peeked in at the Theatre Antique, behind which we had ice cream in a park with a monument to Van Gogh (none of his works are in Arles). We sat in front of the entrance to the roman arena, drinking coffee in the sun, enjoying a very entertaining brass band, one performance to herald the opening of the Easter weekend festivities. We realized the roman arena was closed due to the Feria, and that there was a Bull Fight about to begin at 11:00. It was advertised ‘non-piquée’, which translates as non-poked or stabbed. I found the ticket booth and was assured this was the case and that there were still tickets available (very good price for the morning bullfights, the evening ‘Corrida’ seats cost 4 to 12 times as much as the morning one). We were very happy to be able to visit the arena, it’s the most impressive of the surviving Roman monuments in Provence and was the largest Roman building in Gaul and could seat up to 20,000 people. The bullfight opened with lots of heraldry and pomp, people on horseback, all the matadors came in very ceremoniously. The bullfight itself was very interesting, the first bullfighter was a young woman. The grace with which they carry their bodies and use their capes was amazing. The bull actually hit her once, got her cape and knocked her to the ground. Quite scary & amazing. The bad news was that it was not a ‘don’t-kill-the-bull-at-the-end’ bullfight and we were all a little surprised, grossed out and freaked when the poor bull got it in the end. We didn’t stay for all 6 (not too surprisingly!) but are really glad we had the experience.