When we booked our tickets to Nîmes we didn’t really know what was there… it was a rush (airlines usually have short term sales, 24 hours or less is common) and it was for travel about 5 months away. So we decided on Nîmes. It is in the South of France, it was a nice sounding name and it was £30 each return. The only problem was ’cause I didn’t have an EU passport, I had to pay an additional £8 to “check in”… ie see a human! But it was still cheap. About 4 days before we departed, we made a trip to the library to borrow some travel guides and have a look into what to see and do in the area. However, without any real plan, we got on the plane and headed to the South of France.
I had booked a car for 7 of the 9 days we were away, figuring that we could drive around for the first 7 days then settle in Nîmes for the last two. Once we arrived, we made a bee-line for Collioure which is on the coast near the border between France and Spain. This was a very pretty village, favoured by the Fauvists (eg Henri Matisse and André Derain). Not surprisingly it was picture perfect. We started to enjoy the life of the tourist quite quickly finding the local market, beach (yes we swam in the Mediterranean sea!) and Cafe’s (where good coffee is sold and consumes at a leisurely pace).
Next we checked into a B and B in Ille-sur-Tet. A lovely place with mosaic and marble floors, huge back yard and scrumptious breakfast! We made this village our base for heading into the wine growing region of that area of the Languedoc-Roussillon. We travelled between tiny villages and caves (open to the public wine cellars) to find some lovely wines as well as lovely sights (see the still used 2000 year old Roman Aqueduct). My highlight was a visit to the Château de Caladroy. Here we managed to use what French we had to sample their wines and have a look around a very stunning backdrop to a vineyard!
We continued on our travels to Narbonne where we had a great time looking around the old city, including the half finished Cathedral (they ran out of money…) the 19th century covered market, and the Roman cellars. The cellars were particularly interesting, it was a museum where they had excavated the cellars, so you could wander around in them. They were very poorly lit, so it gave you a good feeling of the era! At the end of the cellars, you climb steps and push on a door which releases you into the street. I had no idea WHERE it had released me, but thanks to the towering hulk of the Cathedral, I found my way back to civilisation! The ceiling in the Cathedral is this 3rd highest in France, and high it was!
Next stop Montpellier! Montpellier is an amazing University city, with many old and interesting buildings. The shopping in this city was also excellent… I even found a Tin Tin shop!
To end our trip we headed up towards Nîmes. About 20 miles North is the Pont du Gard – another of those 2000 year old Roman aqueducts (they seem to be everywhere!). This was truely amazing, three stories high with a drop of only 40 cm per km!
We also day-tripped to the abbey of St Roman (a cave abbey carved out in the 5th century) and a vineyard that still made wine the traditional roman way (yes this includes crushing the grapes barefooted!).
Our last two days were spent in Nîmes – a lovely Roman town with an Arena, a couple of Temples and some lovely cafe’s!
Many more photos appear here (including the compulsory ones of us!)
After this trip, Kate has decreed that for such short trips we take the train in future… the train trip would have been about 6 hrs 30 mins, the flight was 8 hrs door to door… I tend to agree, as opposed to airline travel, there is no limit on the amount of wine you can bring back on the train!!
Lonnie thoughts