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At the 17th-century town hall in the Provencal city of Arles, a large tricolour flapped vigorously outside the open window of the mayor's office last week, animated perhaps by what locals call the mistralet, a gentle summer version of the strong wind that blows through the Rhone valley.

The world heritage city - the largest commune in metropolitan France - has been marked by foreign influence throughout its history: the Romans conquered it in 123BC, leaving the magnificent arena, theatre, necropolis and aqueduct; much later came the artists, Dutchman Vincent Van Gogh and Spanish-born Pablo Picasso among them.