Nimes & Pont Du Gard

We were up bright and early this morning to head 40minutes West to Nimes, the biggest city in the area to pick up Leo’s friend who was in France for work. He hasn’t seen him for a couple of years so I knew that today would have been wonderful for me and much needed ‘boys time’ after spending 5 months with me every.single.day.
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Nimes is the capital of the Gard department and VERY historic, full of beautiful ancient architecture and roman buildings. It has existed since the 2nd century b.C. In Roman times, Nimes was called Nemausus and was a Roman colony, which was a privilege given to only to some cities. This is main reason for which there are that many Roman monuments in Nimes. But after the Roman Empire disappeared, Nimes began to lose population and importance to other near cities. Nowadays, it is the perfect place to enjoy history and sunshine alike and most importantly, take a whole heap of touristy photos, enjoy a glass of wine, an espresso and people watch while soaking up these city vibes.

​Our first stop however, was Pont Du Gard, located in between Nimes, Uzes and Avignon, it’s the most visited ancient monument in France, listed a world heritage site by Unesco, the Pont du Gard aqueduct remains one of humankind's great masterpieces! It took us a little time to get there as there was a political issue so the army/police closed off one of the entrances but upon arrival (eventually) we arrived and 5EURO each later we were situated in front of this stupendous site which was simply breath-taking.

From there, we hopped back in the car and came home to enjoy some wine, an anti-pasti platter and to soak in the sun before an afternoon of adventures. Back to Nimes, we had been told that we simply cannot visit Nimes without seeing the Roman Amphitheatre or Les Arenes. This is the most important monument in Nimes and probably the best preserved Roman theatre, or coliseum, in the world. This is because when the Roman Empire disappeared, Les Arenes was used as a fortress, in which a whole neighborhood was established. Nowadays, the theatre is used as a bullfighting ring.

It is pretty great to be honest, we never ventured is because we are cheap but we did walk the city, exploring the streets and finished our evening with a coffee, wine and an hour of people watching before home to Uzes. Budget wise, Pont Du Gard usually costs 9.50EURO pp but as the museum was closed we managed it for 5 EURO pp – winner! Food and drink wise everything is pretty cheap here, wine was 3 EURO a glass and you can pick up and espresso for about 2 EURO so if people watching is your thing then you can easily have a cheap afternoon of walking and enjoying this city.