Nîmes

If I remember correctly, our first stop after having left Grenoble was Nîmes. This is an old Roman town, complete with Roman amphitheater and temple. My memory is that it's a cool place. When we were there in 1989, a dome was being installed over the center of the amphitheater. I think that has since been removed (thankfully).

The Roman amphitheater at Nîmes.

The arena at Nîmes was completed, along with its sister arena in Arles, in the early second century of our era. Through the middle ages the arena was transformed into a fortress and eventually became filled with streets and buildings. It wasn't until the early 19th century that the buildings were demolished and restoration began.

We ventured out at night and I used my tripod to take photos of the monuments all lit up.


The Maison Carrée (above), a roman temple that survives intact since its construction in the first century, B.C., is impressive in its symmetry and simplicity, and beautiful when lit at night.

We stayed in a relatively inexpensive hotel near the center of town. I remember that, when we were signing in, the desk clerk asked Ken what his nationality was. When he responded "American," she literally took two steps back and gasped. She was amazed at how well he spoke French and told him that she could believe he might be Belgian, but not American.

Yours truly, striking a pose in Nîmes.

Our room was pretty spacious. The bathroom was carved out of the large room, with walls around it, but there was no ceiling. It was just a corner partitioned off from the rest of the room. There was no sound privacy, if you catch my drift...

There are about 133,000 Nîmois today.