Milana & Trevor | Romantic couples engagement session in Arles, France
Have you ever experienced something that was “just meant to be”? That’s what this gorgeous couples engagement session in Arles, France felt like.
Milana shot me a DM on Instagram, asking me about my availability for an engagement session in Provence. She was staying with her fiancé, Trever, in Saint-Remy de Provence, and at first we mulled the idea of an engagement session there. It’s a wonderful place, what I love most about Saint-Remy is the nearby mountain and olive groves, it’s the perfect place for a mix of quaint village and beautiful nature photography.
Milana indicated, though, that they planned to visit Arles for a day. Since I live in Arles, I was thrilled to show them around my newly adopted city.
Now what is Arles? Arles is a small town in the south of France (and fun fact, you don’t pronounce the “s”, it’s silent). It’s 20 minutes by train from Avignon, and an hour by train from Marseille, France’s third largest and oldest city. It’s situated on the Rhone River, and close to the very famous Camargue natural park region of France, which empties out into the sea. Arles is famous for its Roman ruins, including a Roman arena (colosseum) that dates to 80-90 AD. It’s still functional and hosts many events throughout the year.
Additionally, you’ll find other Roman ruins, such as the Roman baths and theatre. The other claim-to-fame for Arles, is that painter Vincent Van Gogh set up shop here in 1888 and painted some of his most famous works. He loved the soft light in this region, and famously, cut off his ear in Arles, which then lead him to Saint-Remy, where there was a hospital to care for him.
Therefore, the Romans and Vincent Van Gogh are really what put Arles on the map, but many people skip this beautiful little city and I have no idea why. It’s not clean and shiny like Aix-en-Provence, there’s not a lot of industry in Arles, but you’ll find amazing little cafés and boutiques, and Arles is considered the unofficial capital of photography in France, because here you’ll find the national photography school and every year the Rencontres de la Photographie, which is a photography festival highlighting artists and their work from all over the world. It takes place from July to September each year and is more than 50 years old. It’s incredible, if you get a chance to visit!
I could wax poetic all day long about how charming Arles is, I adore this city. For its rich history, culture, beautiful old buildings, and of course, sun!
I was thrilled Milana chose to have her engagement session in Arles, and I couldn’t wait to show her and Trevor around my new city (I’m still in Paris too though, I’m Parisian through-and-through!).
Milana is from Los Angeles, and Trevor, originally from Toronto, Canada. They met while working on a project, and have been together for quite a while, their love toward each other was so lovely, and they have wonderful connection to each other.
Milana said she’d been nervous about having photos taken. I always assumed beautiful people loved having their photos taken, but the fact is, some people feel very self conscious or nervous, and this is normal. That’s why I do my best to chat, show people around, whether it’s Paris, Provence, the French Riviera..
During various times of my life, I’ve also been a tour guide, so as much as I adore photographing people, I really love showing them around too!
Being that Milana and Trevor are from Los Angeles, and I spent a decade there myself, and will always consider it home, it was so fun, too to chat about places we both have been in LA, TV shows and movies we love, and also about travel. Milana and Trevor have traveled a lot of places, and we had that in common. I loved it!
We began at the arènes (Roman colosseum) and then I took them around all the cute little streets of Arles, as well as the gorgeous plaza, Place de la République, and we finished our day in a beautiful square where Van Gogh painted the café, “Cafe de la Nuit”. Milana changed her outfit mid-way for another look, and to finish our morning together, we sat down and had a bit of wine and cheese, and enjoyed the beautiful June sunshine.
I couldn’t believe how much fun this was, and how wonderful Milana and Trevor were. Friendly, warm, funny, kind–I felt like I’d known them my whole life. It was an absolute pleasure to meet them and photograph them in this beautiful town of Arles, France!
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