To Nimes and back by train: a day off the bikes

November 2, 2009

Weather: sunny and very windy

After another good breakfast at the hotel we walked to the train station and hopped on a local train for the 15 minute ride to Nîmes, an ancient city which became a Roman colony before 28 BC. Nîmes was the destination for the water which flowed through the Pont du Gard aqueduct, so we felt a sense of continuity in touring the city after visiting the Pont yesterday. The heavy rain forecast for today had not materialized. Instead we enjoyed sunny skies, but high winds for most of the day. We had decided against cycling to Nîmes, because of too much traffic going in and out of the city and no safe place to leave the bikes while we toured the historic sites. The train was extremely convenient, and we disembarked at the station in the centre of town just a few blocks from the Arena.

The Arena of Nîmes is a well-preserved Roman amphitheatre built around 70 AD. In the 8th century a fortified palace was built within the amphitheatre. Over the years a small neighbourhood developed within its confines, and eventually seven hundred people lived there in an enclosed community. The buildings remained until the eighteenth century, when the decision was made to raze the structures and convert the amphitheatre into its present form. Since 1863 it has served as a bullring. Now it is the site of two annual bullfights, and is also used for other public events like rock concerts. Dire Straits performed here in 1992. We spent several hours walking through the arena with informative English-language audioguides which described the long history of the amphitheatre and made the tour much more interesting.

The interior of the arena, which is now occasionally used for bullfights, was once filled with dwellings to form a fortified village.

We left the arena and checked out the exterior of the nearby Maison Carré, a small Roman temple built circa 19 BC. It is one of the best-preserved Roman temples anywhere, but the interior was closed for repairs. We continued through the old part of the city and found a sandwich cafe for lunch.

Another well-preserved Roman ruin, la Maison Carre was closed and under renovation when we were there.

After lunch we climbed up Mont Cavalier to the ruined Tour Magne at the top of the city for great views, and then walked down through the ornate Jardins de la Fontaine (Gardens of the Fountain), the first public garden in France. It was designed and constructed at the beginning of the 18th century when a rising population increased the need for water in the city of Nîmes. Research was undertaken which revealed a Roman water works left abandoned since medieval times, featuring channels linked to a spring. This system was renovated and surrounded by formal gardens, which are a major tourist attraction today.

The Tour Magne, one of the few remains of the towers of the old Roman city walls. We climbed an interior circular staircase to the top for a view toward the south over Nimes. Toward the east we could see all the way to the hills of Les Beaux de Provence, where we would be cycling the next day.

The view from the top of the tower, with the arena just visible in the city centre.

Elaborate staircases and ornate fountains in the Gardens of the Fountains.

We must have walked a good ten kilometres through Nîmes before heading back to Tarascon on the 4 o'clock train. It felt like coming home, and we had time to do our laundry in the late afternoon. Dinner tonight was at a restaurant across from the chateau.

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