Today we arrive in Arles, a sleepy French town where Van Gogh dicovered inspiration… and lost an ear.

Van Gogh arrived in Arles in 1888 and, over the course of 15 months, painted 200 (or perhaps 300) canvases. This is when he began to use swirling brush strokes and intense yellows, greens, and blues.

His work in Arles was inspired by the sights around him; see travel photos and paintings here. The city is full of markers where Van Gogh painted, along with replicas of the paintings themselves (sadly, there are no original Van Gogh’s in Arles).

Van Gogh said that The whole future of art is to be found here in the south of France and we’re here to soak in the colors as well as meals crafted with local garlic and herbs.