Provence Part Deux: Pont du Gard

Bonsoir mes amis!  After our perfect picnic lunch, we headed back onto the bus (we nicknamed the driver Colonel Mustard because of his mustard yellow shirt.  He was super nice!) to leave Uzes and drive to Pont du Gard; a Roman aqueduct built in 19 BC. 

Map of Provence

My chapeau(hat) goes off to the Roman engineers.  The aqueduct is part of a canal and drops one inch every 350 feet to supply the city of Nimes with water during the time of the Roman Empire.  It also serves as a bridge and crosses the Gardon River.  There is a fair amount of Roman ruins around the south of France.  We enjoyed wandering around the area in the Provencal sunshine. 

 Pont du Gard

 First time we could walk on grass in a long time! I miss it...

Bathe at your own risk and peril.

I love sign translations.  We all decided to take the risk and wade in the river to cool off.

JYF buddies testing the water.  It is still March and the water was cold!!  In the summer time, this is a popular spot for picnics and swimming.  I also saw a canoe going down the river!  Anyone up for a canoe trip, Provencal style??



 Impressive photo background

 Crossing the Pont

Un autre photo of yours truly.  The Pont du Gard is MASSIVE, I'm using myself to give you all some perspective.

 View from the aqueduct

A small town in the distance

After moseying across the bridge, we walked back to the bus(stopping for ice cream along the way).  There were other hiking trails around that looked great!  Perhaps Pont du Gard is France's version of Algonquin Park....we then drove for another half an hour to our hotel in Arles.  We had a wonderful meal at a Provencal restaurant, complete with wine (hey we are in France) and a guy playing the guitar.  After dinner, Giles (our guide for the weekend) taught us some French drinking songs.  Les chansons etaient tres amusants et not appropriate for this blog.  Desolee!  More posts on Provence to come!!

Bisous,

Allison