Squash & Beyond World - 2010 France Tour

Squash and Beyond World Tours, Summer 2010 — France & Holland Tour

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Tourist Sites - [ 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Nimes

Originally known as Nemausus, the town was a jewel in the Roman crown. The town was laid out in true Roman fashion following a grid pattern and had its drinking water supplied by a 50km long canal (comprising the Pont du Gard). Nîmes’s other major claim to fame is that it was the birthplace of denim, which originally meant “de Nîmes”, or “from Nîmes”. In the early 1900s the town’s merchants exported the cloth to the United States in order to make sails for ships, tarpaulins and workmen’s trousers. In 1870, a Bavarian immigrant by the name of Levi Strauss used this cloth to make trousers for the trailblazers opening up the Wild West – made in Genoa (hence, the origin of the word “jeans”) of “de Nîmes” cloth, one of the world’s best known garments was born.

You want a completely intact Roman temple from the 4th Century BC? No problem. You want a perfectly preserved Roman amphitheatre right in the centre of the city (so impressive it was used as the setting for the film, Gladiator)? Not only can Nîmes boast both those things, but it’s also just the right size for exploring on foot. Smaller than Montpellier and Toulouse, you can easily get round Nîmes in a day and enjoy the car-free centre of town which oozes charm at every turn. The capital of the still little known départment of the Gard, Nîmes is also an excellent base from which to visit the nearby Roman aqueduct, the Pont du Gard, the Camargue with its pink flamingos and white horses, and even the enticing golden strands of the Mediterranean which lie within a 45 minute drive of the city.

Pont Du Gard

The Pont du Gard is the most spectacular section of the 50km long roman aqueduct which was built to supply Nîmes with water. It is desrvedly on the UNESCO world heritage list.
The bridge is 275m long and 48m high, which makes it the highest in the Roman world. It is composed of three levels. An impressive feat of engineering, the bottom level of arches was designed specifically to withstand huge water in the case of a flood. These were again successfully put to the test in the floods of 2002, two millenia after its construction! These same floods have necessitated significant rebuilding and construction on the right bank, which is currently closed.