Day dix-sept, Avignon and Pont du Gard.
The main focus of today is seeing Pont du Gard, an old Roman aqueduct. Built around 2000 years ago, this structure survived while other modern bridges collapsed a few years ago when there was heavy flooding on the river. A rental car might have helped, but we were determined to take public transportation. We took the train from Arles to Avignon (15 min), then an intercity bus to Pont du Gard (45 min). After seeing the site, we took another bus to the town of Nimes (45 min), then a train back to Arles (25 min), making a triangle. The bus stop is about a 10 minute walk to Pont du Gard. Before we left on this trip, I downloaded the bus schedules. Sometime after we left home, they changed all the bus numbers (the 169 became the A15). The times changed a little too, but not by much.
We had lunch in Avignon at a place that didn’t gouge you, La Mie Câline. A simple baguette with deli meat and cheese, a drink and a cookie all for €3.50. At other places we’ve paid €3.50 just for a Coke. Most of the time, a sandwich and a drink would cost €6-7. We had baguette sandwiches for lunch almost everyday in France. The bread is good, but by the end of the sandwich, your jaw wants to quit because it gets very tired on the chewy bread.
Since we were going through Avignon, we had some time to look around. This is the Palais des Papes (Palace of the Popes). In the early 1300’s, the Pope moved here from Rome. The Italians were pretty upset by this. In the late 1300’s the Pope moved back to Rome, but now the French were upset. So there were two Popes for a while, one in France and one in Italy.
St. Bénezet Bridge is part of some nursery rhyme I’d never heard of. Built in 1171-85, it would get damaged by floods and rebuilt, until the 1600’s when they gave up.
I took about 50 pictures of Pont du Gard. It was very cool. I really like the big, old stuff. Pont du Gard carried water from a spring over a 30 mile canal to Nimes. Built around 50 AD, it was used up until the 6th century. Then the parts that are not still standing became a source a building materials.
In the 1700’s they added a road to the side of the aqueduct. You can see the dividing line on the lowest arches.
From the other side.
There’s a little blue speck in the lower center of this picture, that’s Denise.
We climbed to the top. Here’s an edge view and a view down.
The bus stops are not clearly marked. We were following Rick Steves’ guide book (which was correct). When we were leaving Pont du Gard, we stood in a different location than where we were dropped off. A British woman (who we saw was standing at the drop off location) came over and asked if we “Parlez-vous Anglais”. I mustered up my best French accent and said, “Oui, but of course”. I thought it was funny (although I was probably the only one). We convinced her that we were in the right spot. She was probably glad she met us, even if I have a weird sense of humor.
Nimes has its own arena. Man, these Romans sure got around.
