We got on the peage this morning after leaving Mazamet and arrived in Nimes around noon. We parked near the Arena, built by the Romans in the 1st Century. It's 2000 years old! It holds 20,000 people and is still used for concerts and bullfights. Just amazing! We ate lunch on a restaurant patio just a few feet from the Arena, on a beautiful sunny day.
We drove from Nimes, about 30 km to Pont du Gard, built 2000 years ago and the highest bridge the Romans ever built, at 160'. It is massive! With three sets of arches and some stones weighing up to 6 tons each, the Pont du Gard is an engineering marvel. It was built to carry water about 30 miles from a spring near Uzes to Nimes. We walked around, up and down, and near the water to get a good look. The Pont du Gard is a UNESCO World Heritage Site for good reason!
We left the Pont du Gard around 4:30 p.m., with Avignon only 30 km away, which meant we arrived at rush hour. With so much traffic and not knowing our way, we got terribly lost and drove part way around Avignon, then through the medieval streets. Forty five minutes of being lost wasn't much fun! Fortunately we found our B and B, Domaine de Rhodes, just after the sun went down. Domaine de Rhodes was a hunting lodge built in the 16th to 18th centuries on Barthelasse Island in the Rhone River, just across the river from Avignon. Another great B and B! Another great day!
