Baidacoff Adventures: Pont du Gard, Nimes and Narbonne

Lavender bouquets

On the way out of town Friday, we stopped at another market in Carpentras. The markets have such wonderful smells, including lots of lavender, for which Provence is known.

Lavender

They also had these neat bouquets of peppers. I really wanted to bring one home but was afraid that customs wouldn't let me bring it into Canada.

Bouquets of peppers

Macarons

France is also known for its macarons. We bought some of these to have for a mid-morning snack. I keep trying to find ones that are as good as the ones Steve made for our anniversary, but his are still the best!

Macarons au fraise

Our first destination was the Pont du Gard outside Uzes. It was part of the 50 km long aquaduct that brought water to Nimes. It was interesting learning that water was a sign of wealth in those days. They used much more water per capita than we do now - there were fountains and baths everywhere in Nimes. The construction of this bridge took place in the first century AD and still stands 2000 years later. It dropped one centimetre every 350 metres - can you imagine figuring out that angle over all those mountains? Those roman engineers were quite amazing.

Pont du Gard

Again it was built without any mortar. A wooden frame was constructed to hold up the arch until the keystone was placed. Those stonemasons had to be pretty accurate.

Underside of arch - Pont du Gard

We stopped for a coffee afterwards. This is the life. Just look at that terrace in front of that beautiful building, not a cloud in the sky, and delicious cafe au lait!

Cafe on the terrace

In Nimes there is a very well preserved roman amphitheatre. It is about a third of the size of the Colosseum in Rome.

Colosseum Nimes

It is used mostly for bull fights and shows now. Can you hear the roar of the crowd as the bull swishes past the matador?? We missed a major bullfight by one week. There is certainly a lot of Spanish influence here.

Colosseum Nimes

We stopped for dinner in Narbonne, mindful of the fact that restaurants have very strict times that their kitchens are open. On the way through town we noticed a huge flock of starlings swooping and swirling over the river. It was quite something to watch. We've had a couple of discussions since about how the birds know exactly when to turn, land, etc.

Flock of starlings

The city hall of Narbonne was lovely. It had been a very wealthy city once, having the ability to collect taxes along the river.

City hall Narbonne

I heard somewhere once that patchwork originated in North America, but I am sure that all the patterns came from Europe, particularly from the tile floors. This is the floor (outside) in front of the town hall. It is basically a square in a square pattern or a sawtooth star. I especially like the "border treatment"!