Ruined in Nîmes

We arrived in Nîmes after a long day of driving from the Cathar castles and a battle with the peak hour traffic. Our Ibis Budget was slightly more glamorous than the Etap Carcassone - although with another view overlooking the train station.

We headed out in search of food and once we crossed under the station were pleasantly surprised to find a beautiful boulevard lined with trees, water features and benches, and surrounded by lovely old stone buildings. This led up to the main square which plays host to the main draw of Nîmes - Europe’s best preserved Roman Arena (or Colosseum).

After marvelling at the quite magnificent Arena for a while we had a quick wander round the old town and were quite impressed with the marble-paved streets, interesting alleyways and beautiful architecture. We had dinner at a pizza place on a square and enjoyed one of the very good value menus consistently on offer in France. Mine was a starter of jambon and melon, followed by a pizza and chocolate ice cream. Simon had mussels, pizza and chocolate mousse. We also managed to drink a “baron” of beer (1.5 litres) in record time - we must have been beer deprived or something?

The next day dawned hot and bright. We headed first to the Arena where we were treated to another excellent audio guide explaining the history of the Arena including plenty of titbits about the entertainment held in the Arena including of course gladiatorial contents. I was disappointed to learn that Hollywood lied to us again - gladiators were highly trained fighters and fights were not to the death, but until one fighter retired exhausted or injured. 

The noble presiding over the fight usually reprieved the loser if he put up a good fight, as if the gladiator died the noble had to pay a lot of money to the school that trained him. It wasn’t until the end of the Roman Empire that slaves and untrained fighters started to be used in the manner shown in Gladiator, when the once great sport was waning. Still, it’s a good movie, eh?

Nîmes also has two other excellent Roman sites (I should mention now if you don’t like Roman sites you won’t find much to interest you in the blog for the next few entries!) - a Temple - Maison Carree - that formed the focal point of the old forum, and the remains of an old watchtower, Torre Magne, perched atop a hill in a large park. We visited both. Sadly, although the Maison Carree was excellently preserved on the outside we couldn’t see anything on the inside as it now houses a pretty corny film about the “Heroes of Nîmes” - a story about people who made Nîmes a great city. It mostly seemed to feature people who’d lost battles and rebellions (French military victories, anyone?), but I guess they were heroic for trying. Or something. Still, it made a nice air-conditioned break from the heat.

Maison Carree

The watchtower was more interesting - you can walk up to the top and get great views of the city, and the walk through the park on the way up was pretty. 

We finished all the day-time sightseeing with a swift beer in an Arena-side cafe, followed by a baguette, cheese and pate picnic which was delicious, as all our picnics have been so far. France really is a paradise for the self-caterer!

Street heading to the park

Torre Magne

Roman library ruins in the park