Nimes, Pont du Gard and Montpelier

After Le Boat and with Australia not making the QFs our team sadly disbanded. We had a site booked in Montpelier and headed for a few days exploring part of Occitanie.

Our first stop was the very well known UNESCO listed Pont du Gard. Built over a short period of 15 years way back in 50 AD this Roman aquaduct transported water from Uzes some 50 kms away to Nimes. It is 50 metres high and 270m long but the stand out figure is the fall along its length which is only 25mm. Such precision without any sort of mortar is a real testament to the skill of the stonemasons. At the downstream end the water went immediately into a 70 metre tunnel. 

The Romans spent a good deal of time in this area and in Nimes there is a temple locally called Maison carrée (square house) inaugurated in 4 AD.

And a large amphitheatre which is dedicated to bull fighting.

Many places have these Roman structures but what is unique to Nimes is the end of the aqueduct. The water entered from a square hole using a sluice gate for control and was then dispersed around the town via ten pipes. There were also three drain holes in the bottom.

By stark comparison the Musee de Romanite adjoining the amphitheatre seems to display a façade that is falling apart. Its squareness and fluid lines are designed as a contrast to the “bull ring”.

Nimes has had a focus for many years on pedestrian ways (and has won awards for their endeavours). You can safely amble round many statues and churches.

But the almost 1 km avenue down to the railway station had real pulling power (what is at the end?)

A station reflecting in its own lights. If you are in the area Nimes is a must see.

Helen insisted that we visited Avignon as she wanted to see the town where the nursery rhyme “sur la pont d’avignon” originated. The song originally appeared in an operetta in Paris in 1853 and here is the bridge. It used to have 22 arches but with war and flooding this is now down to 4.

There is quite a bit more to the city including the ramparts which even today are almost complete.

Meanwhile the theatre looks remarkably similar to the one in Beziere.

However, the largest structure belongs to the catholic church – namely the popes palace. Built in the 1300’s this gothic building is an amalgamation of two palaces (two popes) and as is apparent from the ramparts has also had a defensive role.

As our caravan site was within a tram ride of the city, Montpelier needed an inspection. The statue of Louis XIV is quite intimidating. Imagine being a fallen soldier….

Not to be outdone the city also has its own formidable Aqueduc (Saint-Clément). Built over a 13 year period (1753) it took water a few kilometres away from Saint-Clément spring to the city.

It enters the city via the arc de triomphe

Montpelier is a lively town in large part due to its many students. One of the streets was decorated with some 400 umbrellas as part of ‘pink October’ to continue awareness of woman’s breast cancer.

While down by the coast more pink prevailed with these flamingoes.

Our last night in the Occitanie was spent at a great restaurant down by the colourful coastal port

 

Canal du Midi

Following a change in RWC timelines we found ourselves with a gap of 13 days between pool and QF matches. As the latter were in Marseille some activity towards the South of France was appropriate and the canal du midi seemed like a suitable bucket list option. This proved to be the case with most of the chateau crowd shouting “pick me, pick me….” The result 19 aboard two boats.

Here we are shortly after the start of our first full day aboard.

We were extremely lucky with the weather – high 20’s low 30’s for the whole week and not a breath of wind. Just as well as steering these large high boats had a few challenges – low bridges being one aspect.

So a skipper and navigator/look out were a good idea.

We wanted to make sure all who saw us appreciated our origins.

The calm weather resulted in many reflective shots – here are a couple.

Our trip was West from Homps to Port Cassifieres with a side trip South down the Canal de la Robine to Narbonne. The first section of locks off the Robine canal are particularly attractive – we also operated them (albeit a button pushing exercise – unlike England) so that added to the activity.

Also, unlike England which has straight locks these have a bow in them so wider boats can partially berth alongside one another. Best not to watch when our sister ship follows us into the lock….

One of the locks was also ingeniously designed to include a dry dock.

Less ingenious was an old bridge in the centre of Narbonne that has just been closed for fear of collapse. This prevented us from mooring outside our planned restaurant and necessitated a short walk into town and around the bridge. No one knows when the bridge will re-open. Nancy (my cousin who lives in Narbonne) thought it could be years before they even sorted out who would have to pay!

Needless to say the walk was worth it with a wonderful meal at Restaurant En Face. No unhappy punters here!

Of course most evenings required an apperitif before dinner and where better than on the top deck in the sunshine.

In 2007 the peace and tranquillity of the chateau in a remote part of the country was abruptly halted on Sunday as the locals went out hunting. 2023 was no different with Sunday at Gaudras also being a noisy affair. Despite the noise it was rare to see a shooter. That all changed on the CdM. Here are a couple of likely lads getting in a bit of exercise presumably before returning home, changing and heading to church.

The shipping highlight of this voyage revolved around Bezier. First there are the Fonseranes flight of locks. There are 9 in total although we only went through 6 as the remainder were to access the river Orb and are no longer in use.

Second at the bottom there is an inclined lift (the Pente, d’Eau de Fonserannes) for vessels up to 350 Tonnes. It was built in the 1980’s in anticipation of increased traffic. Unfortunately, the increase did not materialise and in the 1990’s it was abandoned.

Third is the Orb aqueduct that carries the Canal du Midi over the aforementioned river. It is in a wonderful setting.

At 240 metres long (7 arches) and 12 metres high it is a large structure and opened in 1858 as traversing the Orb due to changing water levels was unreliable. Sound reasoning so far but what seems to be a complete overkill is its width at 28 metres. This includes galleries either side of the actual waterway that are more that the width of the waterway. Apparently, they are for maintenance purposes. All that said it is a very elegant structure, which was fortunately not damaged by our sister ships traversing.

We spent a day in Beziers which is a particularly attractive town. The gardens include many interesting plants and sculptures.

Whilst in the town the theatre is a standout.

In addition to physical structures, you can do a separate walk to take in many wall paintings. Some were brilliant with this one suggesting the painting was still underway.

Finally, of course there is the often seen shot of the cathedral (1130 and 80 years before Notre Dame) with Pont Vieux (of a similar age) in the foreground. (I can vouch that the view from the bell tower was stunning and took a long time to appreciate - just as well as recovery time from the climb was also protracted!) What is unique to this shot are the two little dots walking across the bridge..

And with that we made our way to Port Cassifieres where other than managing to persuade the local restaurant to open up for 21 people there was nothing report worthy.

Chateau Gaudras part 2

One aspect of Gaudras was its proximity to a range of activities. One hour away was a train trip up the Gorges du Doux. Engine 414 (how boring is that – lets call it Percy) was built in 1932 and beautifully maintained.

Just as impressive was the engineering throughout the trip. How elegantly slender is the arch to this road bridge?

The gorge also provides hydroelectricity. Even the race for the water supply required a bridge and very long open culvert.

The top of the track was a little town called Colombier where Percy was turned using a hand driven turntable.

And it appeared that some of the carriages leaned to better appreciate the drop off, retaining walls and bridges.

An exhausting trip for some - so time for Percy to go to bed.

An hour North was Lyon. The city is dominated by its wonderful Basilica. There is no mistaking its outline.

The detail inside is even more impressive. This view across the aisle shows one of a series of mosaics with their myriad of tiny tiles. Their range of colours was extraordinary. There were at least 8 of these murals. Fortunately, the number of visitors all contributing at least 2 Euros for their own candle should at least ensure their ongoing maintenance.  

Once the walls are absorbed a look to the ceiling is even more mind boggling. Tiling and painting while lying on your back must have been a labour of love.

The view over the city is also very impressive and although some of the modern-day buildings try to make a statement, they fall well short of the basilica. The left hand is the confluence museum (Saone and Rhone) and looks like a repeat of the Bilbao Gugenheim Museum. The unfinished looking building has been occupied for several years…

And this is how to change the roof and completely wreck a 19^th century building.

The dancing in the adjoining square was much more pleasant viewing with a couple of onlookers taking in every step.

The Place de Terreaux has a statue built in 1889 which was designed by Frederick Bartholdi (of Statue of Liberty fame). The horses are meant to represent the four main rivers in France. Initially it was designed for Bordeaux but they decided it was too expensive, so Lyon put up their hand. I have to say that the claws on the hooves of the horses and their wild eyes rather detracted from the idea of picturesque rivers.

We also took in a wine tasting. This was in a very similar location to our 2007 experience as the view once more included the nuclear power plant. At least now there is a visitor tasting facility rather than repeating the 2007 challenge to find an accommodating vineyard during harvest time.

A team event requires the team shirt. The tasting was followed by a very pleasant lunch in a nearby village.

Eventually back at the chateau it was time to partake in some of our purchases and watch the moon rise. (This is not a repeat of Star Wars two moons – the second one here belongs to Andrew.)

The chateau was just outside a lovely little village called Roiffieux. The locals were simply brilliant. First there was the coffee shop run by Cedric which duplicated as the local bar. Apart from regular morning coffees we had a wonderful evening watching France v Namibia while drinking far too much beer with a couple of dozen of the local younger generation. We engaged in a score tipping competition which I won (as the instigator it was clearly a just result….!)

There was also the opening of the local mayor’s office and library with plenty of free drinks, a Celtic band, the mayor and his wonderful English teacher wife (who was very busy bouncing between groups translating). This was followed up by three days (yes three days) of wine tasting by the local Spar owner Philippe. This worked well in his favour as we all walked out with several boxes of wine for our onwards journey.

Lastly there was a local garden which we spent a wonderful hour being shown around. The house is dominated by a round tower. Although on occasions this may have been used for defence its main role was to attract and house pigeons and hence is called a ‘pigeonarium’. Although eating the birds and eggs was useful the raison d’etre was to use their droppings to fertilise the garden.

On one of our last days we decided to explore the local town of Annonnay. There was a guide to the various historic buildings but none really stood out. The exception was this fountain and adjacent road signage which had a natural progression to life as you moved down the list eventually ending up at the cemetery! Of course life then re-starts with a separate sign to family planning!