Nimes, Aix-en-Provence, Aigues-Mortes

Sunday, April 27

We drove to Nimes, France today.  While the area has been occupied by man for a long time (both pre-historically and later by several Gaul villages), it became a Roman Colony sometime before 28 BC.  Similar to Narbonne, it is located on the Via Domitia (Roman road that connected Italy and Spain).  Caesar Augustus made it the capitol of the Narbonne province, and the town was the end point for the water from the aqueduct that started in Uzes and ran through the Pont du Gard.  The main sites we wanted to see in Nimes were the Amphitheater and the Maison Carree.

The Plane Trees on the road to Nimes

The road to Nimes

The amphitheater was built around 70 AD to host “games”.  It was built in an oval, and could hold approximately 24,000 spectators.  We took an audio tour --apparently the “games” were an all-day affair.  Started with animal acts (i.e. – animals fighting animals), then people fighting animals (e.g. – lions), then prisoner executions (either made to fight each other to death or set against lions), and finally the main event -- Roman Gladiators fighting each other.  Interesting to learn that the roman gladiators were volunteers who gave up their freedom for riches and glory, but essentially became  slaves by becoming gladiators.  They were taught to fight in a gladiator school (Ludi) and the fighting was considered entertainment.  It reminded us of modern day boxing and/or wrestling, neither of which holds much interest for us. Today it is still used for events, including bullfights.  

The Fontaine Pradier with the Amphitheater in the background.

The fountain is made of white marble and was dedicated in 1851.  The figure in the center represents the city of Nimes.  There are 4 sitting figures which represent the four major rivers of the area.

The Amphitheater

Statue of a bull fighter in front of the Arena

Inside the lower passage of the Amphitheater

Inside the Amphitheater.  The arena area is composed of hard packed sand to soak up blood.  Really.

The Maison Carree is one of the best-preserved Roman Temples found anywhere in the world, built in approximately 16 BC.  Today it’s actually a tourist theater - we watched a 30-minute film/documentary on the history of the town’s development.  Very well-done and very interesting.  There are still remnants of some of the marble pillars that used to surround the Maison Carree. 

A church we saw on the walk to Maison Carree

The Maison Carree

Remnants of the marble columns that used to surround Maison Carree

Arne at Maison Carree

The detail under the front section of Maison Carree

GPS in the car once again proved to be an issue, especially on the way home.  It doesn’t recognize one-way streets in town and we ended up going in a circle 3 times before Arne finally shut it off and just guessed where we should go -- I started giggling – thought it was funny.  Arne didn’t at the time, but it’s part of the “adventure” we’re on!

Our last evening in Uzes.  We packed and ate leftovers at the house.  Below are some photos of the house in Uzes.

The back patio of the house

The kitchen open to the living area

The living area

One last stroll through the Place de Herbes

The Duke is in residence

Monday, April 28

Headed for Aix-en-Provence today.  Arrived and got checked in and unpacked before heading out looking for a grocery store and the office of tourism. 

Parking is an issue here.  Basically, you either park on the street (which we would do if there were any spots available), or you park in a parking garage and pay 15 Euros per day ($21).  We opted for the garage, which is about 2 blocks from the apartment.

Below are some photos of the drive from Uzes and the apartment in Aix.

Tunnel of Trees

Main room of apartment in Aix

"Office" area - it overlooks the park where they play Petanque (Boules)

Master bedroom

Master bedroom looking across to 2nd bedroom

2nd Bedroom

Tuesday, April 29

Today was our day to explore Aix-en-Provence.  We were going to take the guided tour in English, but somehow managed to arrive 10 minutes late, so we did our own walking tour using the map we got from the office du tourisme.

Below are some of the sights we saw in the old town section of Aix-en-Provence.

Street performers in Place Jeanne d'Arc - we watched them for a while and couldn't figure out how they did this - we couldn't see any support cables at all! 

Flower market

Mausolee Joseph Sec
Dating from 1792 - one of the rare monuments of Revolution architecture

Inside the garden of the Mausolee - some rather gruesome statues - OUCH!

David and Goliath

17th Century fountain in the Place et Fountaine de Tres Ormeaux
Also, where we had lunch!

One of the streets in old town

This car, called a Twizy, is a 2 person car - smaller than a Smart Car. 

The Cours Mirabeau (main mall through town), lined with restaurants and shops.

Fountain du Roi Rene, built in 1819 is a statue of the king holding a cluster of Muscat grapes cultivated in Provence.

Arne in front of Fountaine d'Eau Chaud (hot water) - built in 1734, this fountain is called "Mossy".  The water comes from the Bagniers hot spring and is a temperature of 18 C.

The Fountaine des Bagniers - with bronze medallion above, which is of Paul Cezanne by Auguste Renoir.

Arne's déjeuner

My déjeuner

Fountaine de la Rotunde dating to 1860.   Three statues representing Law (facing the city), Agriculture (facing Marseille), and Art (facing Avignon).  This is in the center of the round about of Place Charles de Gaulle.

Wednesday, April 30

This morning we got the car and headed for the ancient walled port city of Aigues-Mortes (pronounced roughly…“Aig-e-mort”).  The name comes from the Aigues-Mortes salt marshes and ponds that stretch around the village and also the fact that there has never been potable water at Aigues-Mortes.  It is the home of a huge salt marsh where since antiquity they have been producing sea salt.  It was a bit out of our way – we had planned to tour it on our way from Narbonne to Uzes, but it was raining that day, so we decided to try to get to it while in Provence.

We took the audio tour guide of the walled city.  It was interesting, but we started to run out of time because we wanted to do a tour of the salt production at 3PM and we still needed to have lunch….so we kind of rushed the last half of the tour.

The 'back' entrance to the walled city of Aigues-Mortes

Part of the walls

This tower, built between 1241 and 1250 during Saint Louis' lifetime, was known as the Tour du Seigneur du Roi - the King's Tower.  By the end of the 14th century, it was called the Tour de Constance.

From the ramparts - looking along the wall

From the ramparts looking down the canal toward the Rhone River.  We ran into some American ladies (former flight attendants for Delta) who were doing a barge tour of French canals...they said it was awesome - the barge had 3 staterooms (2 people each) and it was totally gourmet! 

From the ramparts looking across the city and beyond to the salt works

Arne on the ramparts

One of the streets of the town (people actually live inside the walled city)

From the ramparts looking at the salt works

Inside the old Church Notre Dame des Sablons.  It was originally built of wood in 1183,  but was rebuilt in 1246 in stone.  In 1248, Saint Louis came to the church and town prior to the start of his first crusade.  The roof of the church collapsed in 1634 and the church was rebuilt in 1711.

More of the walled city

From the office du tourisme:  In 1240, Saint Louis decided to build a city close to his kingdom in order to have a direct access to the Mediterranean Sea.  Seven centuries later, the fortification still dominates the Camargue as one of the most well preserved medieval French buildings.

We had lunch in the city square and then headed for the Salins du Midi salt works.  We had missed the 3 PM tour so we tried to buy tickets for the 4 PM, but it was sold out (even though they told us earlier that we didn’t need reservations – grrrr).  We didn’t want to wait until 5 PM, so we just looked at the mountains of salt (called la camelle).  The salt works stretch over 9,800 hectares (almost 24,000 acres) of Rhone river delta land called the Camargue.  Seawater is pumped into carefully prepared earthen pond beds and circulates for five months, while the level of salt progressively concentrates until it crystallizes.

las camelle of salt

More of the salt works

While driving to and from Aigues-Mortes, I noticed that all the horses we saw were white – I had to check it out and here is what I found out.  The Camargue Horse is an ancient breed, indigenous to the Camargue region of southern France.  Although it’s origins are unknown, it is believed to be one of the oldest breeds of horses in the world.  I found some interesting info on this horse in the Wikipedia.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camargue_horse

Thursday we are headed to the seaside village of Cassis, France.