Today was Pont du Gard day. We thought we would be there in a couple of hours then go out and have a look around the Camargue region then possibly stay the night up the coast a bit. BUT we forgot to take into account that this is the SOUTH of France and there is a LOT more traffic. So we got as far as Pont du Gard by taking a motorway about half way – cost us 12 Euros. We then decided to leave the motorway when we saw there was another toll area coming up, and immediately got lost in the next small town, somehow found our way out again and eventually found the Pont du Gard. It’s a viaduct the Romans built to transport water over a distance of 50km. It was built around 2000 years ago and they believe was in use for around 500 years, it was also the highest bridge the Romans ever built. Gus said something smart about old relics after he took this photo, but I chose not to hear!
They were setting up for a pyrotechnic display when we were there; would be something to see but I suspect we weren’t invited... Bizarrely this man just happened to be passing on his way up to the top where they were doing some of the setting up as we walked over the bridge – I love how casual he looks!
We then drove down to the Camargue region; this is a large wetland area in Provence, famous for the Camargue horses, birdlife and bulls. They have bullfighting here, but instead of killing the bull, they pluck a red rosette from between its horns – I like it! Gus thought the bulls a little on the small side – he would be interested to see how they’d react to a 3 year old Friesian in the ring with them! We have already seen a lot of the Camargue horses, most of the poor things tied up with saddles on in the sun waiting for tourists – we also saw a few though in the wetland area. We also saw some of the bulls in a paddock, the horns look formidable. At a distance I could see egrets and flamingos, but tomorrow we’ll go for a walk and hopefully see more, and closer. There were large areas of flooded paddocks, growing rice, on the way in too. Tonight we are in a camp/carpark on the edge of Stes-Maries-de-la-Mer.
We ended up going out for dinner, was a nice treat - we haven’t been out too much because of cost, and also, of course, it’s not always convenient when we’re camped well away from a town. You can view my entree, Fruits de la Mere.
On the way out for dinner we spotted these flamingos just as the sun went down.
This morning we had a look around a reserve that is part of the Camargue region. It was absolutely overflowing with flamingos; egrets; many species of herons – basically heaven to a bird lover like me.
We also saw a Muskrat – he was very cute, almost like a beaver. At one stage we spotted an otter, but he was too quick for a photo. We also saw turtles, so neat to see all these things in the wild.
Then we decided to head east (towards Italy) via the Grand Canyon du Vernon. We thought Grand Canyon may be a bit of an exaggeration, but it was absolutely stunning. There was one really beautiful part with a lake far below us and we could see lots of people enjoying the water. It has turned really hot now, so we were sorry that our road didn’t take us near the lake!
I think that road may have been the one labelled unsuitable for campervans – the one we were on was hairy enough in places. The photo is taken from the driver's seat of the campervan - I made Gus stop the campervan before I would hand him the camera.
Today was Pont du Gard day. We thought we would be there in a couple of hours then go out and have a look around the Camargue region then possibly stay the night up the coast a bit. BUT we forgot to take into account that this is the SOUTH of France and there is a LOT more traffic. So we got as far as Pont du Gard by taking a motorway about half way – cost us 12 Euros. We then decided to leave the motorway when we saw there was another toll area coming up, and immediately got lost in the next small town, somehow found our way out again and eventually found the Pont du Gard. It’s a viaduct the Romans built to transport water over a distance of 50km. It was built around 2000 years ago and they believe was in use for around 500 years, it was also the highest bridge the Romans ever built. Gus said something smart about old relics after he took this photo, but I chose not to hear!
They were setting up for a pyrotechnic display when we were there; would be something to see but I suspect we weren’t invited... Bizarrely this man just happened to be passing on his way up to the top where they were doing some of the setting up as we walked over the bridge – I love how casual he looks!
We then drove down to the Camargue region; this is a large wetland area in Provence, famous for the Camargue horses, birdlife and bulls. They have bullfighting here, but instead of killing the bull, they pluck a red rosette from between its horns – I like it! Gus thought the bulls a little on the small side – he would be interested to see how they’d react to a 3 year old Friesian in the ring with them! We have already seen a lot of the Camargue horses, most of the poor things tied up with saddles on in the sun waiting for tourists – we also saw a few though in the wetland area. We also saw some of the bulls in a paddock, the horns look formidable. At a distance I could see egrets and flamingos, but tomorrow we’ll go for a walk and hopefully see more, and closer. There were large areas of flooded paddocks, growing rice, on the way in too. Tonight we are in a camp/carpark on the edge of Stes-Maries-de-la-Mer.
We ended up going out for dinner, was a nice treat - we haven’t been out too much because of cost, and also, of course, it’s not always convenient when we’re camped well away from a town. You can view my entree, Fruits de la Mere.
On the way out for dinner we spotted these flamingos just as the sun went down.
This morning we had a look around a reserve that is part of the Camargue region. It was absolutely overflowing with flamingos; egrets; many species of herons – basically heaven to a bird lover like me.
We also saw a Muskrat – he was very cute, almost like a beaver. At one stage we spotted an otter, but he was too quick for a photo. We also saw turtles, so neat to see all these things in the wild.
Then we decided to head east (towards Italy) via the Grand Canyon du Vernon. We thought Grand Canyon may be a bit of an exaggeration, but it was absolutely stunning. There was one really beautiful part with a lake far below us and we could see lots of people enjoying the water. It has turned really hot now, so we were sorry that our road didn’t take us near the lake!
I think that road may have been the one labelled unsuitable for campervans – the one we were on was hairy enough in places. The photo is taken from the driver's seat of the campervan - I made Gus stop the campervan before I would hand him the camera.
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