Adapting to a new rhythm - The Arles Project

Text, video and photo by Annika Trost

“Je suis une personne du matin et une personne de nuit, mais je ne suis pas une personne de l’après-midi…” my French teacher said one day in class. This means I am a morning person and a night person, but not an afternoon person. It felt like being struck by lightning as I had a lifelong realization— this is exactly how I function.

My tendency to flock toward people and social situations usually keeps me from going to bed at a decent time. Simultaneously, I love the early morning— which is something my mother instilled in me: the fresh air, the dreamy sunlight, the peaceful atmosphere, the calm before the storm, and for one specific small town in Southern France, the cool before the heat.

During the morning in Arles, you may find a few stray runners, the occasional neighbor wending their way through the streets to retrieve their morning baguette or walking their dog, but you’ll likely never find intense fast walks or business casual at 6 a.m. I savor every moment of the somewhat cool morning air as I know it won’t last for long.

Typically, my day starts at 6 a.m. when I take my book and journal to our backyard and sit reading under the big tree that’s blossoming with bright pink flowers. Even though I am swatting away mosquitoes, it’s worth it to smell the fresh air and feel the morning breeze tickle my arms. The family cat is softly snoring next to me while the doves are finishing their final coo. The mornings start still and softly, unlike at home, and in Arles, the middle of the day also has a gentle rhythm.

From noon to 2 p.m. nearly every store, shop, business and anything that doesn’t serve food is closed. You may be wondering, is something wrong? No, they simply pause to enjoy lunch and have a break from work. Meanwhile, my friends in the States are eating their packed lunches in a container next to laptops because their internships don’t allow them a break to eat in a 12-hour workday.

So, who has it right? Should we work without ceasing? Or is working without ceasing really living? Are Americans maximizing their outcomes by working nonstop? Or would we be more productive if we focused more time on rest?

At home, it seems working with no rest is praised, while in reality, it’s not how we were created to live. Arles is a beautiful representation of how time can be carved out each day for leisure; it really is possible. In the south of France, people are valuing rest and truly living instead of blowing through their mental and physical capacities just to make it through the week. Some businesses close for multiple weeks or months during the summer, just for the business owners to enjoy a vacation. In contrast, I fear businesses in America would not survive a month’s sabbatical.

The tranquil mornings and slow afternoons are a sure representation of Arlesian culture and a way of life the rest of the world should take note of. Slowly, slowly, my life here in France seems more and more like how life should really be lived.