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Published: March 21st 2012
Today we left Millau for Nîmes via the Gorge de Tarn (the gorge cut by the river Tarn). This is definitely the long way round, but we had heard great things about the gorge so we thought it was worth checking out. As it turns out, we were right.
The drive itself was incredibly fun and really made Mike wish he still owned his roadster. The road was full of hairpin turns, tunnels, cliffs and curves. Oh, and it was narrow- very narrow. There were sections that were definitely no wider than a single lane ... And these would go on for miles! Then, you would see a 'road narrows' sign, then another, and another. The funny thing was that the whole time there was a line marking the centre of the road - for dividing the two traffic directions. But in reality, unless the oncoming car was really a wheelbarrow, and you were also driving a wheelbarrow, there is no way you could make it past each other. We saw one motorist who drove the whole way with his side mirrors folded in.. Smart dude.
Putting the road aside, the scenery was breathtaking. Not only were there amazing
Gorges du Tarn
The cliffs in the gorge were quite vibrant in colour and very impressive.cliffs and mountains all around, but villages and random houses dotted the sides of the gorge. Sometimes, the village was on the far side of the river and a bridge had been built for the crossing. Other times there was no bridge... Instead a cable zipline was used to ferry supplies (and maybe people) across the gorge. To top it all off, every once in a while we could spot an ancient castle. Perhaps it would be off in the distance, or perhaps it would've been right next to the road.
Nîmes was a busy city. Lots of cars and lots of traffic. Oh, and lots of traffic circles. We stopped off at the local Decathlon (the European equivalent of MEC) and bought a camp stove. Then we hightailed it off to see the Pont du Gard.
On the way to the Roman Aquaduct, we saw a sign pointing out a medieval village (Village de Castillion), so we decided to pay it a visit. The village was very beautiful - full of stone paved streets and stone buildings , but it was also perched atop quite a high cliff so there were great views of the entire country
Gorges du Tarn
We stopped to take in the scenery. side. In fact, we actually got our first glimpse of Pont du Gard from the town- and Pont du Gard was 4.3 km away! The town also featured a great church, but we didn't have time to look inside. The one thing the village apparently didn't have was inhabitants. It felt like a ghost town except for the one city worker we saw cleaning the public washrooms. There were cars everywhere though, and most the houses had open windows and doors, but there was really no one on the streets!
This is the beauty of renting a car, is that we can stop in at any random place and it end up being a jewel that we would have otherwise missed!
Pont du Gard was, of course, amazing. We loved it. After walking across the bridge that was added in the 18th century, we climbed the stairs to the top of the mountain on one side of the aquaduct. The view down at the structure and the river was incredible. The sun was shining and the river was a beautiful blue. It sure was windy though!
Pont du Gard was built by the Romans in the first
Gorges du Tarn
The River Tarn continuing to carve out its gorge. century to supply water to Nîmes. It was only one small part of the aquaduct - the total aquaduct stretched for 50 km - starting in Uzès. Definitely an incredible feat. From the mountainside, we followed a series of trails and could walk along lengths of the aquaduct. Most of it had been filled in by time, but small portions of it were excavated out.
Of all the Aquaducts in the Roman Empire, Pont du Gard was the highest. Unfortunately, we weren't able to walk across the top of it - the top is closed until May... Turns out that winter tourists aren't worthy! (We definitely enjoy the crowdlessness of winter travelling- especially when it comes to photo taking, but sometimes we do lose out because something is closed, or deserted, during the winter).
After our visit, we headed back to Nîmes and found a campsite, which was essentially in the middle of an industrial park just on the cusp of the city. The wind hadn't died down, so we put extra guy wires on the tent and heated up some canned chili with our new stove. Unfortunately, the only site we could find didn't have any picnic
Gorges du Tarn
And the road gets narrower... tables, so we had to cook on the road. So there we were, crouched over a tiny stove trying to heat up our chili, in the middle of the road (it is wicked dry here and we didn't want to risk bumping the stove over and starting a fire), with the stove going out every few minutes because the wind was so strong it blew out the flame. Oh well - we got the job done... eventually. Then we curled up in our sleeping bags and bunked down for the night, (Elysia thought it was a very cold night). Apparently, this was just in time for the French Air Force to start their drills overhead in their fighter jets. As it turns out, a tent is not as sound proof as you might think.
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