Summer in Arles, France | A Photo Journal
We first met Justine at Drift, a boutique hotel in San Jose del Cabo, while we were exploring the Baja Peninsula over a long weekend. She was finishing up a month long trip in Mexico and her stay at Drift was the last stop on their tour. After casually chatting at the pool over some cervezas, we ended up spending our whole weekend together, road tripping to Todos Santos for surf and shopping, and looking for waterfalls in the desert in our rented white Jeep.
Since that trip we’ve stayed in contact, and Justine has nurtured her passion and talent for photography. Now a photographer full time, she captures gorgeous portraits, weddings and elopements in stunning locations for her company Justine Grajski Photography. Both then and now, she has always had impeccable taste and style. That’s why when she reached out to share pictures from Rencontres d'Arles, a photo festival she attended in Arles last summer, we were thrilled.
Located in Provence in the south of France, Arles possesses layers of intrigue. As an important city during ancient Roman times, Arles is so rich with Roman history it became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1981. An intact amphitheater that still hosts events and a well laid out museum, the Museum of Ancient Arles or Le Musée de l’Arles antique, provide a glimpse into what life was like in Arles two thousand years ago.
More recently Arles has captured hearts through the paintings of Vincent van Gogh. One of his most famous paintings, Cafe Terrace at Night, is of a yellow-awning-ed cafe in the Place de Forum in Arles. A walking tour of the streets brings visitors face to face with scenes only previously seen in Van Gogh’s thick, heavy brush strokes on canvas.
Finally, Arles borders the Camargue region - an area known for its white horses, black bulls, and pink flamingos, adding fauna to its list of enchantments.
But of course Arles is also a city in Provence, so there is as much charm in wandering cobblestone alleys on a market day as there is in steeping oneself in its past. Let Justine’s photos take you on a visual journey of this amazing town in France. And if you happen to find yourself in Arles, we can’t recommend Chardon Restaurant enough for a bite to eat.
le marché
la ville
les chevaux blancs
un vigneron et ses vignes
Jeff Coutelou, of Mas Coutelou natural wines, showed Justine around his vineyards. Mas Coutelou produces wines outside of Arles in the Languedoc region, Provence’s lesser known, but equally charming cousin.
