Martigues

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I am pleased to be back here in Martigues, France. It is a coastal community on the Mediterranean and it may sound familiar to you because I was here in 2012 on RTW1. This is one of the places where my father was stationed during WWII and I like the thought of walking the same streets he did 72 years ago. I brought the photos that I took when I was first here - the ones that were from the same place where Dad took photos in 1945 - and there are a few minor changes, but mostly things are the same (see photo). However, I am getting ahead of myself. I started the day in Collioure and drove from there to Nimes. It started as an important Roman city and there are some well-preserved Roman ruins there, primarily a temple (see photo) and a large amphitheater (see photo). But the main thing that interested me was the Roman water distribution point (see photo) because this is where the water from the aqueduct of the Pont du Gard used to flow. You may recall from my blog five years ago that I visited the Pont du Gard and took pictures from the same site that my father did (see photo of photo). Nimes, it turns out, is also a very pleasant place to wander and that is what I did this afternoon. The Old Town is pedestrianized with many little shops, cafes in tree-shaded squares, and every few blocks one runs into some historic structure. By the way, I am now officially in the region of France known as Provence and tomorrow I will be in the Riviera.

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