Leeses Loose in France - Part 3

It's a rainy Saturday afternoon which is really reminding me of our time in France. Like when we were there, we didn't let the rain stop us - we went to the local farmer's market then got a few things from Home Depot. But that's not why you're here.

April 15

Nimes

The last time we were in Provence, we had to choose between visiting Nimes and Avignon and chose later. (Sometime, I'll share the story of that crazy day transportation-wise.) This time, we knew we wanted to go back to Nimes, a college town with a lot of Roman sites.

We saw the arena first, one of the few that you can actually walk into the floor of. It was all ready for the bull-fighting season so covered in a light dusting of sand. We also saw a very preserved Roman building, a cistern from Roman times, and the Roman and Middle Ages Museum. (The museum has a great audioguide for kids ages 8-12 where they have to search for artifacts, design their own mosaic, and answer history questions. If they finish, they get a reward - a special "junior archeologist" certifcate with their name on it.)

Lunch was at a brasserie that was mostly empty when we arrived but quickly filed to capacity. Lizzy had a kids pasta dish with ham but, being Lizzy, all she ate was the ham itself because the pasta was a "weird shape" (little spheres). Matt and I shared a large steak and french fries. I was rather hungry so totally forgot to take photos.

One of our cool finds was a little tea and spice shop where we got a mustard sampler for a neighbor, some spices for Matt, jelly beans for Lizzy (that turned out to be more like fruity tic-tacs in a jelly bean shape..oops!), and a tea for me that is oolong with caramel and vanilla.

Pont du Gard

Pont du Gard sounds like a rather boring visit, on the surface. Giant aquaduct from Roman times and an associated museum. In reality, it's rather impressive. It has the largest surviving arch from Roman times and is situated in a beautiful place, overlooking a river with mountains in either direction. It was (at last!) somewhat sunny when we were there so we took some time to soak up "sun energy" as Lizzy calls it. We decided we were done with museums and sites for the day so skipped the museum.

April 16

St. Remy

We decided to stick in town in St. Remy for the market day as it was going to be next to impossible to leave via car, anyway, given where we stayed. Matt and I wandered the market as soon as it was open then again about an hour later and again with Lizzy in the afternoon, when it was the most crowded.

After doing a whole lot of nothing back in our rental, we went out in the drizzly rain to see the ancient Roman city of Glanum before grabbing dinner at the local Irish Pub.

Where We Went

• Nimes - followed the Rick Steves walking tour, with some minor deviations if sites were crowded
• Roman World Museum - great kid's audioguide and not overly large
• Lunch in Nimes - Brasserie Le Questel
• Spice and tea shop - L'Huilerie
• Pont du Gard - can get very crowded with school groups, even outside of the peak season (summer)
• Lunch in St. Remy - well, I have zero notes nor a card for where we went. It was down an alley off of the main drag...
• Glanum
• Irish Pub in St. Remy - O'Varieties