Pont Du Gard, Lex Baux, Olive Mill Tour, Nimes

It's another beautiful day in France which makes it perfect for seeing some more Roman influences of this area.  On the World Heritage List, the Pont du Gard  is one of the oldest and most remarkable Roman hydraulic works. It is a bridge that is part of the Nîmes aqueduct, a 50 km-long (31 mile) structure built by the Romans.

Pont du Gard

 

I hiked up some stairs to get a view!

 

 

Our next destination is Les Baux - de - Provence.  It has a spectacular position in the Alpilles mountains, set atop a rocky outcrop that is crowned with a ruined castle overlooking the plains. 
Les Baux-de-Provence is famous for its medieval hilltop castle and village carved right out of the cliff face. Cars are banned from the steep, winding streets, so you will have a brisk walk up the hill to the sights.     

The village has cute winding streets and stunning views.  

 

 

Walking around the village and checking out the cute little shops.

Had lunch at a small secluded restaurant that overlooks the whole area.

Just a note, if you can't finish your meal do not ask for a to-go box unless its pizza.  They don't have boxes.



Off to an olive mill. This family-owned business offers a wide selection of Provencal specialties in addition to their homemade olive oil and assorted derivative products, including olive oil cosmetics. The family is very rooted in local traditions and is extremely welcoming. We got a tour of the facility and got to sample the wares.

After the tour you have the opportunity to walk around the store and buy some of the olive mills famous products to take home to your loved ones.

 

 Then sample some of the famous flavors of the mill under the shade of fig trees.

Avignon and Arles

Today was spent in two great ancient towns, Avignon and Arles.

Palace of the Popes (Palais des Papes). This Palace was built during the Pontificates of three popes and took about 30 years to complete. The entire complex is actually made up of two buildings: the Old Palace, built between 1334 and 1342, and the New Palace, built between 1342 and 1352.



Palais des Papes

 

Across from the Palace on the Place du Palais was another impressive building, the 17th century Hotel de Monnaies (the old mint), with a facade of griffons, cherubs, eagles and swathes of fruit.

 



Hotel de Monnaies

 

Time for some lunch!  Of course I had to have some French Onion Soup!

Along with a wonderful chicken Ceasar salad

 



We had plenty of time for a little shopping and I found my mom some French soap in this great shop!

 



After sightseeing in Avignon Insight Vacations drove us to Arles, the town where Van Gogh lived for a time and you can visit the Van Gogh Gallery.

 

I enjoyed walking this cobbled streets and watching children play and people walking

 



Kids dancing in the street

After a full day of sightseeing, I treated myself to some hotel, first class room service.  Yes they do have cheeseburgers that are very good in France!

Off to Nimes

Today Insight Vacations transported us to The Paris Gare de Lyon train station where we will begin our journey to Nimes, France.

Our tickets were checked as we boarded the train and we found our assigned seats.  If you need to use the bathroom or get hungry don't panic, there is a restroom on the bottom and top floor as well as a bar on the second floor with goodies, like muffins, fruit, candy, and drinks.  The ride was quite smooth and the view was very nice.

Once we arrived in Nimes we then boarded a bus and headed to Skalli Grand Vin Du Rhone to taste some fine French wine.  

We were taken to a room where we were surrounded by large wine barrels and we gathered around a table that had two bottles each of white and red wine.  The sommelier took us through the process of how the wine is made and showed us how to properly taste the wine.

 

We now head to Nimes which sits on the border between Provence and Languedoc. There is a lot of Roman influence here and that is evident when I see the Arena of Nimes in the center of this historic town.  It did remind me very much of the Coliseum in Rome when I was there.

 

 

After getting a glimpse of this very small but quaint town we were taken to our 4 star hotel, Hotel Imperator where I got a well deserved good nights sleep to prepare me for some more fun in Nimes!!