Nîmes, France

August 17, 2001

While Dad and Jo were out visiting we decided to head off into the heart of Provence. Though we technically live in Provence, the real Provence, the one everyone thinks of, is really around Avignon, Nîmes, and Aix-en-Provence. The lure of the Roman ruins, Provençal countryside, and general, all around adventure caused us to bravely leap into our car and do the roughly 2 hour drive out to Nîmes, the Pont du Gard, and Avignon (see map). Nîmes is famous for it's coliseum-like Arènas and a 1st century temple called the Maison Carrée, which, for some reason, I took no pictures of. It is also famous for the Roman aqueduct that brought water to the town from about 23 km away. It is also famous for being sacked several times, the worst being by the Vandals back in  the early 5th century.

Another interesting fact about Nîmes is that during the 18th century it's sizeable Protestant middle class was banned from government posts and various other ways of making a living. That was a popular thing Catholics did to Protestants in those days. So they resorted to trade and manufacturing. One of the products made was a twilled fabric known as serge. This soft but durable fabric became very popular among workers and, when stained blue, was the uniform of the fisherman of Genoa. When Levi Strauss immigrated to the USA he began producing trousers in California. The gold rush of 1849 made him realize that miners needed garments that would last. After trying canvas and failing, he began importing serge de Nîmes, better known as denim, and the rest, as they say, is history.

 Here are the pictures from the first stop of the magical, mystery Provençal tour.

Nîmes has some of the best Roman ruins in all of Europe. It gives Rome a good run for its money. Below are some pictures of what is called the Arènas. Everyone else would call it a coliseum, just like in Rome. But we're in France, so lets call it the Arènas to make everyone happy. It is remarkably well preserved, and aside from Rome's version having a third floor this is just as majestic and impressive. It was built around 100 A.D. and sat about 24,000 people. The interior has four tiers of seats and a system of exits and passageways that insured that the royals and patricians did not rub elbows with the plebeians. We know what was important to the Romans ! It is used to this day for concerts, bull fights, and theater. Today, it has a high-tech removable roof that protects the inside from rain. Here are two excellent pictures, the second including the family.