A visit to the Pont du Gard has to be today's highlight. It is the largely intact roman bridge built to carry an aqueduct across the Gardon River. It was built around 2,000 years ago and now preserved as a UNESCO heritage site. A few facts and figures were quoted to us:
- the PdG is 275m long with a fall of only about 25mm (so that the water flowed downhill)
- it is up to 49m high
- it is estimated to have carried about 200m litres of water a day
- construction is thought to have taken 15 years and involved 1,000 workers
- the larger stones in the lower parts weigh about 6 tonnes each
- the entire aqueduct from Uzes to Nimes is 50km with a fall of about 17m
It is a remarkable feat of engineering and construction and has certainly stood the test of time and floods, while many more recent structures have not.
The PdG is now part of a historic site complete with visitor centre and museum (which sadly we did not have time to look at.) It is great to see something as magnificent preserved in a determined fashion that should see it remain for a very long time yet.
Even the graffiti is old.
En route to PdG we visited the village of St Paul de Vence. It is known as a 'perched village', so called because it is perched on a high defensive position and as a result has been well fought over down the centuries. It is a medieval village with narrow, winding streets, and views of mountains and sea (we think, as the day was quite misty and we couldn't see them.) It's main current claim to fame is it's recent inhabitants which include Mark Chigall the artist (now deceased) and others of his ilk. You can buy things there, and we did.
Also called at Aix-en-Provence and strolled the Cours Mirabeau (the main street) in the rain. This town was home to Paul Cezanne the artist and Emile Zola the writer. Provence the province looked very attractive even in inclement weather. It is of course the subject of Peter Mayle's book 'A Year in Provence' which I now intend to read.
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