Arles' cultural scene has spawned a small but growing number of specialist cinemas, galleries and bookshops. Here's a list, plus the nearest embassies, consulates, doctors, lawyers and emergency phone numbers.
Certain of these phone numbers cannot be dialled from abroad. To avoid confusion, ALL of the telephone and fax numbers listed on this page are those to call from within France; i.e. excluding the international prefix, +33.
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CULTURE
Tourist Office (Office de Tourisme): 9 boulevard des Lices, 13200 Arles. Tel: 04 90 18 41 20.
Les Rencontres de la Photographie (Arles International Photography Festival): 34 rue du Docteur Fanton, 13200 Arles. Tel: 04 90 96 76 06. Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Click here for our full guide to the Arles Photography Festival.
Bookshops and Publishers:
Actes Sud, place Nina Berberova, 13200 Arles. Tel: 04 90 49 56 77. Arles' most important publisher also has a fabulously well stocked bookshop and (see below) the city's best cinema.
De Natura Rerum (it's Latin for Of the Nature of Things, the title of a famous work by Lucretius), 50 rue du Refuge, 13200 Arles. Tel: 04 86 32 00 78 is a store specialising in ancient history, an art gallery - and a shop selling craft beer!
Based at the LUMA Arles cultural campus, Offprint organises pop-up bookshops and literary events, both in Arles and internationally.
Cinemas:
Most French cinemas show films in dubbed versions, although some screen subtitled films. Note that on occasion a cinema may screen the same film in both versions at different times. Look out in the programme for VO (version originale, or subtitled), as opposed to VF (version française, or dubbed).
Cinema Actes Sud (Le Méjan), place Nina Berberova, 13200 Arles, tel: 04 90 99 53 52, is run by the city's leading bookshop and publisher and boasts a varied programme of new releases and classic / cult revivals.
Le Fémina, 14 boulevard Émile Zola 13200 Arles, tel 04 90 96 10 10, tends to focus on mainstream commerical releases, generally dubbed into French.
Libraries:
The best library in town is the Médiathèque d'Arles, Espace Van Gogh, place Félix Rey, 13637 Arles, tel: 04 90 49 39 39.
POST OFFICE
Bureau de poste (Post Office): 5 boulevard des Lices, 13200 Arles.
EMERGENCY SERVICES
Medical (this also covers the SAMU, which deals with serious and specialised medical emergencies): 15
Arles Hospital Centre hospitalier d'Arles - Hôpital Joseph Imbert, quartier Fourchon, 13637 Arles. Tel: 04 90 49 29 29.
24 hour pharmacy information (pharmacies de garde): 3237 List of emergency pharmacies in Arles
Police: 17
Arles police station: 1 boulevard des Lices, 13200 Arles. Tel: 04 90 18 45 00.
Fire brigade (the firemen, or sapeurs pompiers, also provide ambulances for general medical emergencies): 18
Any of these services when calling from a mobile phone (cell phone): 112
Emergency number (hearing assisted): 114
Terrorism and kidnapping hotline: 197
Car pound (La fourrière): 04 90 49 39 92
Bison Futé (road traffic information): 0800 100 200
Anti-poison: 04 91 75 25 25
Asthma and allergies: 0800 19 20 21
Dental emergencies: Tel: 0892 56 67 66
Rape crisis: 0800 05 95 95
A number of centres offer free, anonymous AIDS tests in Arles (and other towns in the Bouches du Rhône département). The French word for AIDS is SIDA. A test, or screening, is dépistage.
AIDS helpline: 0800 840 800 (freephone number).
Hepatitis helpline: 0800 845 800 (freephone number).
Homophobia helpline: 0810 108 135 Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
LOST CREDIT CARDS AND TRAVELLERS' CHEQUES
American Express: 01 47 77 72 00
American Express Travellers' Cheques: 0800 83 28 20
Mastercard: 0800 90 13 87
Visa: 0800 90 11 79
EMBASSIES AND CONSULATES
British Consulate, Les Docks de Marseille, Atrium 10.3, First Floor, 13002 Marseille. Tel: 04 91 15 72 10. Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
US Consulate General (Consulat Général des Etats-Unis d'Amérique), place Varian Fry, 13286 Marseille Cedex 6. Tel: 01 43 12 48 85.
Some other English-speaking countries have no diplomatic base in Marseille. These are the nearest contacts.
Australian Embassy, 4 rue Jean Rey, 75724 Paris Cedex 15. Tel: 01 40 59 33 00.
Consulate of Canada, 10 rue Lamartine, 06000 Nice. Tel: 04 93 92 93 22. Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Honorary Consulate General of Ireland, St. Michel, 69 avenue du Roi Albert, La Californie, 06400 Cannes. Tel: 06 77 69 14 36.
New Zealand Embassy, 103 rue de Grenelle, 75007 Paris. Tel: 01 45 01 43 43. Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Ambassade d'Afrique du Sud à Paris, 59 quai d'Orsay, 75343 Paris Cedex 07. Tel: 01 53 59 23 23. E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
DOCTORS AND LAWYERS
A list of hospitals with English-speaking doctors in South East France, including Marseille, is available on the website of the US Consulate General.
A list of English-speaking lawyers in France is available on the website of the British Embassy in Paris. The Australian Embassy in Paris also has a list of English-speaking lawyers in France, including Marseille.
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