Last week, as I moved closer to the last few weeks of my stay in the south of France, I decided that I should consult the list of things I had hoped to do and places I had hoped to visit when I started out on this great adventure…..just to be sure I hadn’t missed something. I hate missing things! As I reviewed the list and thought about my experiences, I think it’s fair to say that I covered a lot of ground. I missed a few things and a few places…..but only a few!
However, in contemplating how best to spend my last few weeks in France, Nimes bubbled up to the top of the list of places yet to be visited. It had been recommended by several people as a great city for ambiance, food and some of the best Roman ruins in the area! Sounds like my kind of combination! So, I was off! I boarded the train on Thursday from Aix en Provence and looked forward to my long weekend in Nimes!
What a great stop!
My best description of Nimes is that it is “timeless”. It’s a city that is just a little smaller than Aix en Provence….by about 50,000 people, I think. But, the pace seemed similar. You could leisurely wander the narrow, cobbled streets between the old buildings and find just about anything….or nothing. There were the same “patissiers” and “boulangeries”, some of the same stores, and lots of places where the streets come together in a “square” housing many small cafes where one could while away the day drinking coffee, hot chocolate or something else while watching people. The thing that was different about Nimes is that you could be aimlessly wandering through some of the old streets, losing
all track of time, look up and see an ancient Roman ruin…..right there in front of you! I had a similar feeling in Arles when I visited a few years ago, but Nimes was different. Unlike Arles, where the ruins were on the outside of the town, in Nimes, it seemed that the town grew up around the ruins and incorporated them into the every day function of the city. I thought it was quite unique. In Nimes, one is always in the midst of a mixture of the modern verses the aged. It was quite something.
As usual, I had some favorite things that I would like to tell you about…..
The first success, which was not a Roman ruin, was my stay at the Ibis Styles Hotel, one of the budget hotel options offered by the Accor Hotel chain. It is located directly behind the train station. I was coming to Nimes from Aix en Provence by train and Mike was coming from Paris by train to meet me, so the location was ideal. And, even better, a quick walk out of the hotel and through the train station brought us to a scenic walkway that led right into the middle of town.
Right at the end of the walkway was the first of the Roman ruins, the arena. It is reminiscent of the arena that I saw in Arles and the colosseum in Rome. However, it is better preserved than the arena in Arles and is more complete than the colosseum. In fact, they are still using it and have bull fighting there several days during the week as well a variety of performances….. like ballet. Strange, but true. But, a good example of what I mean by the new meeting the old. At night, because it was the Christmas season, there was a light show projected on the outside of the building. It was quite striking.
A walk forward through the old streets past a variety of clothing and shoe boutiques, restaurants, cafes, patissiers and chocolatiers brings you right up against the next of the well preserved Roman ruins, the Maison Carré. According to my tour book, it is one of the most beautiful and best preserved of the Roman temples in Europe. It is said that it’s Corinthian columns were an inspiration to Thomas Jefferson as he designed his buildings. On the other side of the street was its modern counterpart. The design of the new building mirrors the columns of the old building. Another example of the old and the new working together. Fascinating!
On the north end of town was, in my opinion, the best feature in the city and my favorite collection of ruins in Nimes. It was a park called the “Jardin de la Fontaine”. This park uses the ruins of an ancient Roman shrine as the centerpiece. The park itself stretches out from there. To the south of the shrine is a large park area with fountains and multiple benches where one can take a good rest. The extension of the park to the north provides walking paths that climb a very steep, well-coiffed and terraced garden. The paths are lined with chestnut and elm trees with flower gardens in the background. One could spend a lot of time there walking and contemplating life. I spent a fair amount of time there myself. It was lovely.
In the lower area of the park near the Roman shrine was “Le Temple de Diane”, the remains of an ancient roman temple and some roman baths. At the very top of the park was the “Tour Magne”, the city’s oldest Roman monument. For a small fee, you could climb to the top and view Nimes and the surrounds. This was probably the first of the climbing opportunities in the last 3 months that I opted out of. I ran out of time. But, the view from the ground was eye-popping, too….just without the climb….
Of course, as in the other towns I have visited in my time in France, this town also had it’s fair share of old churches. I didn’t have time to go in, but did have time to view the architecture and take some photos as I passed by. Just beautiful!
Oh, and we also had some really good food….some of the best of the trip to date, I think. And, of course the wine wasn’t too shabby either here in the heart of the Langedoc wine region!
On Sunday, as we pulled out of Nimes on the train to go back to Aix en Provence for my last few days as a resident, I felt that I had taken a step back in time and then quickly fast-forwarded to the modern day while passing a “mélange” of everything in between. The stay in Nimes was a real study of the complement of the old and the new and how well they can fit together.
Somehow, it just works……timeless!
Travel With Betsy 
Leave a comment