Nîmes

Elle and Andrew had a day in Nîmes on their 1996 backpacking holiday with Rachel DaCosta, and although they can remember enjoying the Roman Arena the city didn’t leave a strong impression.  As such, despite being only a 30min drive from Uzès, it wasn’t until the 5^th June, 6 weeks after our arrival, that we made our first visit (the timing prompted by the commencement of the Feria, the town’s most famous festival).  It was a relatively short visit, perhaps 3 hours, but enough to make us change our view of Nîmes.

After parking our car centrally in an underground carpark we headed towards the Arena.  Along the way we spotted a house with ceramics embedded into the external walls, which appealed to us.

Although we didn’t enter the Arena, we had a good look at the outside, and took some photos nearby.

Moving on from the Arena, we headed into the labyrinth of narrows streets that make up the old town, but which is now home to many nice shops.  We spent about an hour walking through this area, which we couldn’t remember from our previous visit, and which impressed us greatly.

Andrew enjoyed the ‘mon papa champion’ advertising at this store.

The streets were filled with people of all ages, and cultures.  Andrew stood for a while at this location trying to capture the essence of the experience, with this being his best effort.

Before heading home we wanted to see the Maison Carriere, Nimes other famous Roman building (which I think we had forgotten from the 1996 visit).  Although again we did not go inside (it now holds special exhibitions), we had a good look from several angles and spent some time in the portico area.  It is truly a spectacular building, and in excellent condition.

It was at this time we noticed people were lining the nearby road, which runs between the Maison and the Arena, and we saw a small group of people on horses.  We checked the Feria program and noted that something was supposed to happen at about this time, but the name in French name was quite non-descript (or perhaps just difficult for us to interpret).  So we decided to move closer to the road and wait a while to see what might happen.  Shortly after gettting a good position, we noted a larger group of horses, without riders, and a few minutes later we witnessed the event – a mustering of about 50 (mostly) white horses down the street.  With the Maison as the backdrop, it was quite spectacular.

On our way back to the car, we walked alongside a nice canal, visited a park, and ‘lounged’ on a narrow new landscaped strip above the carpark.  The former two were definitely there in 1996, so once again we scratched our heads and wondered why Nîmes hadn’t left a better impression.

Not even our struggle to depart Nimes, because of road closures for the Feria, could dent our positive experience.  So, upon our return to Uzès, a second visit to Nimes was added to the ‘to do’ list on the kitchen blackboard of level 3, 2 Rue Pelisserie.

On the 27th June, Andrew, Elle and Xavier headed back to Nimes (Grace and William were at school).  We parked in a different location this time (hoping to minimise the risk of a difficult exit), and upon exiting the carpark, found ourselves staring at Cathédrale Notre-Dame-et-Saint-Castor de Nîmes.

Without a map, we were not entirely sure of our location (despite being next to the massive Cathedral), however made a few calculated assumptions and successfully found the ‘old city’ area.  After a short walk around, and some window shopping, we decided to have lunch in the Place du Marche which we had liked walking through on our previous visit.

We settled on La Magador, at the eastern end of the place, and we both opted for different  ‘menu de jour’.  Andrew ate what was described as a local favourite, octopus in cream sauce; while Elle had Brandade, an emulsion of salted cod and olive oil, mixed with potatoes.

Xavier was more interested in the nearby crocodile fountain.

After lunch we again wandered through the old city streets, where we noted it was sales (soldes) time.  Elle bought a nice red pair of sandals (not at Mellow Yellow).

Prior to leaving Nîmes for the last time, Andrew discovered Fontaine Pradier in Esplanade Charles-de-Gaulle, near the Arena.