Pont du Gard

Outside of Nîmes there stands a 1st-century relic of the Roman empire.



The Pont du Gard is an enormous aqueduct- 160 feet high and spans 900 feet across the river Gard. The Romans built it to bring water into Nîmes from over 30 miles away. It's a very well-preserved and maintained engineering marvel.





It's also a good place for a swim.





And if you are really brave, you can jump off the cliffside.







It's quite a bit higher than it looks.

Pézenas

We spent some time wandering around Pézenas.



They had a lot of art galleries and antique shops, cultural walking tours, and beautiful old buildings.







We found a place that had fabulous galettes- savory crepes.



The dining room was a in a vaulted-ceiling basement that still had creep feeders for livestock on the wall.


We heard that there was a craftsman in the city who did amazing handmade knives.



He ended up being quite the character.



This cat was watching tiny lizards dart up the building facade:

Clermont l'Herault and Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert

It was market day in Clermont.















That was just waaay too much excitement for me to handle. We picked up enough for lunch (and then quite a bit more) and drove up to Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert, which is considered to be the prettiest village in France.



It lived up to its claim. It had narrow winding car-free streets and an Abbey that was founded in 804. It was surrounded by mountains and cliffs and a beautiful deep river.



We rented kayaks and paddled several miles through the gorge.



The entire trip down the Herault was stunning. We didn't see a sign of humanity except for another occasional paddler. The river was teaming with fish. At times, the sound of frogs was almost deafening.

The Pyrenees

We took a trip to the far Southwest of Languedoc- the Pyrenees mountains along the border of Spain. It was hot, dry and totally remote.


Cucugnan



Along the Cathar trail, there are a series of strategic mountain tops graced with the ruins of forts and castles.





It was beautiful, rugged countryside dotted with small medieval villages and farmland.


Chateau de Queribus


Chateau de Peyrepertuse







Chateau de Puilaurens



These were the only horses that we found that weren't on the menu.



All that hiking and castle-storming wears on you. We had the most amazing lunch at Auberge de Cucugnan.


An assortment of pate, boudin noir, local cured ham, and Saucisson Sec.


Wild boar. Note the customary manner of putting a jug of rose on the table with lunch.


A pear and Roquefort tart, which was this meltingly pungent combination. It reeked of awesomeness.


gateux, which was so rich and dense. Really, not something that I usually eat in the heat of the day, but it was that compelling.

They consider a cultural faux pas if you skip lunch. It was all enough to make me weep with joy.

We also stopped in at Carcassonne, on the Canal du Midi.



It's a hopelessly tacky tourist trap that looks interesting only from afar. Some genius in marketing had decided that re-creating the medieval village (which was a cathar stronghold in the 13th century) was just the economic boost the region needed. Filling it with ye olde medieval times junk shops, restaurants (which were all playing the world cup on their big-screen televisions- soooo not with the Medieval Times) and hiring re-enactors for nightly jousts had turned what might have been a fascinating historic site into a crowded Disneyland.

We ran in and out of this place in about an hour. Any longer and I would have felt like we were loitering. The enormous city walls were impressive, but the winding narrow streets were just filled with so much tacky cheap made-in-China tchotchkes. I felt that it really went against the spirit of the rest of what we had seen in the area: local craftsmen and farmers who were intensely proud of their livelihoods and products.



There is a beautiful church in the center that is mostly original- the Basilica of Saint-Nazaire. Lots of stained glass and gargoyles.


I felt like this one echoed my reaction well.

Sette and Bouzigues

We took a day trip to the Mediterranean coast.



Sette is a picturesque town on a hill overlooking the sea.





We found it touristy, crowded and a bit overwhelming and didn't really care to linger there. So I found the town of Bouzigues on the other side of the bay.



It was a seriously lucky find. Bouzigues had oyster flats as far as you could see. Adorable cafes and degustations lined the waterfront and offered mainly oyster-based dishes. The whole town had a very laid-back and old-fashioned feel to it. I had to pinch myself.







The oysters to be had were enormous, and so fresh that some of them had live barnacles on their shells.




This was a huge undertaking. For $35 Euros, you got an enormous amount of food for 2 people and a bottle of wine to boot.





It was great times to people-watch the other huitres eaters. They eat them enthusiastically, by the dozen, and completely unadorned. I was humbled.



Profiteroles and local fromage were also irresistibly on the menu. I have nothing but love and respect for cultures that take their food so seriously.