Nimes and Avignon

  Nîmes, Languedoc-Roussillon, France
Monday, June 2, 2008

Well what do you know - if we didn't wake up to rain yet again. We were forewarned by the campsite owner, who told us the weather would be better 'after tomorrow'. So roll on Monday, then.

Les Arenes, Nimes

We decided Nimes was a good option, and after stopping in the village for bread, we made straight for it.  I'm beginning to regret charging off, though, because all these old villages around this part of France are so lovely, and so timeless.  We are just skimming off the surface and ought to settle in and enjoy the finer detail more - maybe tonight.

Not the cathedral, Nimes

It had stopped raining by the time we got to Nimes but was still cold, so we wrapped up and set out. We parked on the road near the station and our first port of call was
the enormous colosseum, called Les Arenes, in the centre of town.  It's used for all kinds of entertainment and we had just missed a show called the 'Legend of Java' that appeared to involve bare-back riding and fire. We were too mean to pay the €7 each to get in and look around the inside, but we managed to find out it had been built by the romans. What else do you need to know?

The cathedral, Nimrs

I was sure there was a cathedral in Nimes, and after looking at an attractive church on the far side of the central square to the colosseum, we set out in pursuit of twin spires we had glimpsed earlier. Nimes is strangely reticent about advertising any of its history other than Les Arenes, and when we
found the building we still couldn't see any tourist information.  What's more it was in a sad state of repair - boarded up windows, locked doors and an outside area whose main function was a dog's toilet. We walked all the way around the building and saw nothing to enlighten us, until we spotted a modest noticeboard outside the front door. It wasn't the cathedral after all, but a church. There was a map showing other churches, and the cathedral, which was a couple of blocks away.

We memorised the route and headed straight for it. Still no publicity, and when we did happen upon it, it could have
been easily missed. Tucked away in a quiet square, it looked far less imposing than the church we had just left, and wasn't any better kept or more accessible. The notice outside, though, descibed its history, drawing our eyes to roman parts of the building, as well as more recent additions.

The bridge at Avignon

That was the extent of our exploration of Nimes. We stopped for a beer near Les Arenes and then headed for Avignon. As we did, the sun finally came out. Avignon is beautiful - don't miss it. The sheer scale of the place puts even Aigues-Mortes in the shade. The amount of city behind the fortified walls; the enormous Popes palace, and surrounding buildings, and of course the famous bridge. All in mellow yellow with soft ochre tiles. Like Bath in France.

Popes palace, Avignon

Again, we were really skimming off the surface, but we have been here before. This time we took in the gardens on the rock above the palace, and indulged in an ice-cream in one of the many shops, but we decided to leave early and find a campsite, to take advantage of a few rays.

Le Pont d'Avignon

The sites nearest Avignon were too big and fancy for us so we headed east, towards Carpentas.  Our first port of call was Monteux, where we found a camping municipal. It's on a quiet spot near the river, with a short cut into town for bread in the morning. The facilities are spotlessly clean and fairly modern. Unusual in a Municipal camp site - there is actually paper in the toilets. The water in the washbasin is warm so there is every reason to think the showers will be good as well.  The lady who runs it is very nice and tried hard to speak English to us while we tried equally hard to speak French. She has internet in her office, and when we powered up, there was a network available,which was probably hers, but was secured. Although she was willing to let us use the machine, she had no knowledge of the network,which probably belonged to the council. I didn't want her to get into trouble with her bosses because of us, so we didn't pursue it any further. We've paid €12 including electricity, and we are well pleased with it.

It's clouded over again but we are hopeful of better things tomorrow. I'm thinking it would be good to stay put and just walk round the town, but no doubt we'll be on our way. I think we'll be staying south though, because Ralph spotted some snow on a nearby mountain as we left Avignon.