Day 16 – 19, 21st to 24th Oct 2025
Montrond Les Bains, Nimes and Port-La-Nouvelle, France
Since Chambord we have been driving towards the sun. A couple of wet days driving but it wasn’t as bad as some places have had it.
We were pleased we had moved on as Storm Benjamin was at his best around Brittany.
Gareth has always wanted to visit Nimes and its very well-preserved Roman ruins.
As it’s a big place we had trouble finding somewhere to park up for the night, so, in the end chose Bernard’s little Aire on the outskirts. Not for bigger vans though as the access is tight.
It was a beautiful spot and fortunately we were very well protected against the winds of the storm.
We arrived on Wednesday late afternoon, so just chilled out by the van, putting out the awning to shield us from the rain – a definite plus for the awning on this occasion.
Yesterday morning the promised rain didn’t materialise though we did set out armed with raincoats and a LUME brolly, courtesy of old friends Keith & Mandy!
We didn’t realise how hilly Nimes is 
, and because it’s an old place there are lots of little cul-de-sacs, meaning you have to walk the long way round!
Up and down as we made our way to the first site, Tour Magne, a remnant of the old city wall thought to have been a defence/watch tower.
The Tour is at the top of a park and as we walked down through it, we came across the Temple of Diana and some beautiful fountains. In the middle is the old Roman Baths.
Its a very tranquil park with lots of places for you to sit and soak up the atmosphere. There was actually a Tai Chi class in full flow in one part.
Exiting the park we walked around the city roads, noting the smart buildings and the abundance of trees lining them.
This took us into the old town and onto the Square House. An amazing Roman Temple, apparently one of the best preserved in the former Roman territory.
The Square House was dedicated to Emperor Augustus and then to his adopted children, Gaius and Lucius. Its set in a big plaza with markings on the floor where the outer pillars would have been. The information boards around the city are very good.
While we were walking around the building, looking for a free cafe table for a drink, a gust of wind blew many chairs and tables around. Meg was not keen, and I kept looking round expecting something to be flying at our backs.
Needless to say we walked on! Down a lovely touristy street and round the corner we happened upon the old Clock Tower. Here there were cafés tucked away from the big winds and in the sun.
After a drink and a sandwich we moved on to the cathedral which, sadly was covered in scaffolding.
So onwards we went, arriving at the Augustus Gate. Wow! This gate was the main entrance to the cityback in the day, forming part of the defensive walls and the gateway to Rome.
Our last stop was the Arena of Nimes, inspired by the Colosseum in Rome and one of the best preserved in the world. Originally holding 24,000 people!
And guess what? Dogs are allowed. The organisation prides itself on being dog friendly. Not that Meg appreciated any of it. She refused to move along the ticket line with us as we think, she thought we were getting on a train or something equally as nasty!
As always, she’d rather suffer than let us go without her so she relented eventually 
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You can go just about wherever you like, there are so many steps up to the cheap seats – where we were reminded that it was a very blustery day. The view is lovely, though if you were a bit wobbly on your feet, you could find it all a bit challenging.
Not us of course, we hopped up and down the tiers like young gazelles 
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So there you are, Nimes finally ticked off the list. Now for the walk back . Actually it wasn’t that bad in the end, And we didn’t do as many steps as we did walking around the Chateau 
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This morning, Friday, we said goodbye to Bernard, spent at least a half hour trying to navigate the roadworks and diversions into narrow 2-way roads just to get into the centre of Nimes to go out the other side!
We can see that it would be soooo busy in the summer.
We have now pitched up for the night in Port-la-Nouvelle, on the south coast of France near Narbonne.
We took a late afternoon walk to the port and around to the beach, had a beer and a huge ice-cream in the sun before coming back to the van.
Tomorrow we hope to get to Roses in Spain, hopefully the sun will still be shining.
Happy Friday everyone.
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