The Pont du Gard or Nobody Does Aqueducts Like the Romans

You could probably spend months in France and not see all the UNESCO-listed sights.  It is a wonderland of Roman ruins, medieval castles, chateaus, and forts.  Fortunately for us, one of the most famous is only a 45" ride away - the Pont du Gard, the biggest aqueduct ever built by the Romans.  Still intact after nearly 2000 years, the aqueduct is three levels tall, 50 meters high, and 360 meters long.

The aqueduct was part of a 50km system that brought water from Uzes to Nimes, the most important Roman city in the region, over a course that dropped gently and coursed through rock and on elevated channels, most of which are long gone, except for this glorious aqueduct.  To say it is an engineering marvel doesn't begin to do it justice - it is an absolute wonder.

At the Museum exhibit, we learn that those platforms, visible just as the arch begins to curve, were to support the wooden foundations which allowed the masons to maintain consistency in the arches and support the stones until the final center (key) stone was laid in place.

This diagram shows how the aqueduct was constructed, starting at the upper left and finishing on the lower right..

All Roman aqueducts were designed exactly the same and all by military engineers.  With this consistency and uniformity, an engineer could supervise multiple aqueduct projects at the same time.

All the stones  were quarried nearby but only the arch stones were mortared using a formula (given in the Museum exhibit and developed by Vitruvius) that looks remarkably like the same formula we used when making and finishing our adobe walls in New Mexico!

 This is the walkway over the second tier; a once-a-day guided tour takes you across the very top tier (we passed on that as it was a very, very windy day!).

The view from the other side.

In addition to the Museum, there is a botanical garden which includes plants from earliest times, one of which is an olive tree, reputed to be 900 years old (at least that's what we think the French plaque said!)

All this walking, gawking, and learning has given us a healthy appetite so time to tuck into a late lunch!

And the aqueduct spans the Gordon River. . . 

Ahhh . . . Provence!

This year's trip to France was to be with our dear friend, Sue - the three of us renting a house somewhere in Provence where she could paint to her heart's content and Tim and I could complete our post-doctoral degrees in loafing.  Sadly, Sue couldn't make this year's trip, but we assured her we would scope out Provence and narrow down where we will all come, Summer 2016.

Provence is to France what Tuscany is to Italy - the place name everybody recognizes and equates with 'la dolce vita' or life well-lived.  It's easy to see why.  Provence is blest with a lovely, 'Mediterranean' climate which translates into sunny, dry summers and mild winters.  The terrain and terroir (that's French for soil) is perfect for growing grapes, and the towns are achingly picturesque.  Nearly every one could be on a postcard.  As a result, it's 'the' place to vacation and rental prices reflect it.

We stop in the Tourist Information center in St. Remy de Provence and find a lovely, funny attendant who spends a long time with us, trying to match their TI rental listings with our needs.  One rental she dismisses as 'too much' and when Tim says 'What's too much?' she says 2,000 euros - a week!!!!  Yeah sure you betcha that's too much - we just want to rent it, not buy it!  But I get ahead of myself . .

Our current rental (for 9 days) is in a delightful small town called Eyragues (pronounced Ay-rak) which is equidistant from Avignon and Arles, perfect for exploring this part of Provence.  Our host, Patrice, and his wife Laurence, speak wonderful English and are delightful.  Doesn't this look like the archetypical Provencal home?? It even has a pool!

Like most Provencal towns, ours has a market which we are eager to patronize.

One of our first stops is at a booth where a young woman is enthusiastically chopping veggies with a device we've never seen.

Got our attention for sure!  It's probably made in China, but this gadget is irresistible (won't take up much room in our suitcase) and it comes with the most wonderful vegetable peeler.  Now we just need the vegetables . . .

We walk away with green beans, carrots, onions, potatoes, zucchini, pears, tangerines - enough for several meals - and it's just over 2 euros!!

Every meal needs a baguette so we stop at our favorite boulangerie (she makes almond croissants to die for).

Tim is a happy man, in the kitchen, frying up a French delight . . .

Tomorrow, we explore!

The Maritime Museum, Ile de Re, and Poitou Donkeys

One of the joys of having a rental car is that we can look at a map and say 'Let's go there today!' which is exactly what we did on this glorious Sunday morning.  'There' is Ile de Re which is connected to La Rochelle via a 3km bridge and looked like it might be a fun place to see, kind of Rehoboth Beach and the Hamptons, with crepes.  

But first a stop at The Maritime Museum in La Rochelle's harbor.

There is an indoor exhibit of the port's history (all in French so we didn't learn very much) and then a visit aboard a French meteorological research vessel.

After a tour of the crew and officers' quarters, we head for the galley (where else?) and Tim is wowed by the equipment.

Prominently displayed is a menu for Christmas dinner 1967,  complete with the accompanying wines.

On to the bridge where I get to channel my inner captain . . . 

And the view from the prow into the harbor . . . Tim no doubt thinking of his many weeks aboard aircraft carriers.

Off to Ile de Re!  We have no idea where we're going - or even why - it just looks like a neat spot.  The map shows a town near the island's very tip called St. Martin de Re which turns out to be quite the French tourist mecca.  It's a residents only auto zone so we park and walk a short way before coming out into a delightful and scenic town square which immediately reminded both of us of Mykonos, without the pelicans.

Obviously there is a huge tide here as the boats in the marina are accessible at low tide via some challenging steps.

We're drawn to a church just off the square which, like so many in France, looks like it dates back to the 14th or 15th century or perhaps even earlier.

Above, the original, unrestored portion; below, the restored interior which is quite grand.   We're both surprised by the wooden ceiling.

On our drive back to the bridge, I insist Tim come to a screeching halt.  I've just spotted the most remarkable-looking creatures, a herd of Poitou donkeys  (I didn't know that's what they were until I got home and looked them up; I thought this was some kind of weird French yak!).

Wow, talk about a bad hair day!!

There are only 200 of them in the world; 19 of them are on Ile de Re.  They are gentle, sweet, friendly creatures, and no one seems to know where they got their dredlocks or why. Years ago, 'farmers' on the Ile harvested salt from the marshes, and the donkeys were used to transport the bagged salt from the marshes to a drying shed.  The sweetest thing I read was that the farmers' wives were so distressed that the donkeys' legs were being scratched and bitten while in the marshes, they made bloomers for them out of old tablecloths!   

Apparently, there are a couple of times a year when you can saddle up a Poitou and have a ride about (they're as big as mules), complete with bloomers, the donkeys that is!

Au revoir Ile de Re, St. Martin, and donkeys.

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