Pont de Gard - Roman Aqueduct

Europe » France
April 25th 2017

Published: June 16th 2017

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ChrisandDot

Pont du Gard

Fascinating Roman Aqueduct. Built in 50 A.D. to carry water from Uzes to Nimes. amazing that it is still standing.

Geo: 43.7885, 4.83167

Fun and busy day. We drove to Pont du Gard, where a very large Roman aqueduct still stands. It was a much easier drive than yesterday, although our 3 GPSes didn't agree and we ended up turning around and going a different way to try to avoid the towns. It all worked out.

Pont du Gard has an excellent museum where we learned more than we ever wanted to know about building an aqueduct and moving water in Roman times. But it was very interesting. Most of the pipes were underground - all lead pipe - but in a few areas they had to cross rivers, thus the building of the aqueducts to transport across the rivers. Amazing that they are still standing. Built in 50 A.D and used until the 6th century. In the 1700s they added a bridge on to this one, so we can walk beside it for an up close look. Lots of pictures below.

We also took a nice hike through the woods there. Hiking trails all over the place. Easy to get lost. Lots of people playing along the river, picnicking, dogs everywhere. Really nice place.

We lucked out on finding a lunch place today. We

Dot and Chris-selfie

In front of the Roman aqueduct

didn't have a plan, but there was a cafe at the Pont du Gard that looked decent and had outside seating with the Aqueduct in view. It turned out to be awesome. I had chicken and Dot and salad and they were excellent. Better than our gourmet meal yesterday and 1/4 of the price. See the pics below.

We spend quite a bit of time here walking around, then back to our home base of St Remy to continue exploring and shopping in our town. We found a bike shop here in St Remy that sells and rents both e-bikes and regular bikes. We would love to rent bikes to bike to les Beaux which is 15 miles away, but we are nervous about biking on these narrow country lanes. We grit our teeth when we have to pass a biker when we are driving. Plus, a famous cyclist was killed when hit by a van just a few days ago.

At least Dot has one english speaking channel on the TV - BBC news all day long.
Bread and cheese for dinner again after our big lunch, plus a few pastries etc. we picked up along the way today.

Additional photos below

Photos: 11, Displayed: 11

Chris and Dot

Friendly tourists taking each other's pictures

Dot from another angle

Dot and Chris

Chris' lunch - chicken in crawfish sauce

When I ordered it I didn't know what it came with. Did I ever luck out! Wonderful thinly sliced scalloped potatoes, and some veggies for Dot. The chicken was delicious and the sauce was perfect.

Dot's salad

The description said hot goat cheese and cold salami. She wasn't quite sure what it was going to be, but it was perfect for him. Warm goat cheese on a large thin toasted bread, excellent greens, a variety of meats underneath. She was very happy. We lucked out on this one.