Nîmes

Officially in Provence, Nîmes is close enough to make a long day trip. I've been there several times before so opt out so that the others can squeeze in as many sites as they want without having to accomodate my touring style (slow) or my need for food (frequent). The weather here is gorgeous. Blue sky and warm enough for sleevless. Looking forward to the terrace for lunch and needlework but first I'm tackling the wine bottle collection which hasn't been photographed recently. The bottles are threatening to fall off the mantle, but we haven't been able to talk ourselves into parting with them just yet. They are a record of our explorations of Languedoc. So I'm trying to steam off the labels from some. Without much luck, I'm afraid. Of 6 bottles, I only manage to get off 1 label intact and most of a second. New tactics required.

The day trippers don't get back until 9:30 and they haven't eaten dinner. But they are delighted with their day. They started at the Pont du Gard and somehow managed to find enough interesting things to explore there that they spent 3 hours there rather than the scheduled half-hour. The Pont du Gard is a spectacularly intact Roman aquaduct that spans the Gard river. The engineering is pretty amazing as the entire aquaduct at one time traveled something like 50 miles from a lake to Nîmes and dropped in height only a foot or so in that distance.

Judy, Duane and Dave spend the rest of the day exploring the Roman parts of Nîmes. There's an intact temple (Maison Carrée, square house) and the best example of an intact Roman amphitheatre in France which is still used for bull fighting and concerts today.

I can't get anyone to add anything to the blog for this day, so if we go back with Janis and Clark, we'll get a better description of the sights of Nîmes.