Page 241 - Lonely Planet France’s Best Trips (Travel Guide)

impressively intact 1st-
century-AD amphithea- TOP TIP:
tre (http://arenes-nimes.com; PADDLING THE GARD
place des Arènes; adult/child RIVER
incl audioguide €10/8; h9am- Get your first glimpse of the Pont du Gard from the
8pm Jul & Aug, shorter hours
Sep-Jun) makes for a ma- river by paddling 8km downstream from Collias, 4km
west of the D981. Kayak Vert (%04 66 22 80 76; www.
jestic traffic roundabout.
Locals nonchalantly kayakvert.com; 8 chemin de St-Vincent, Collias; from Collias
adult/child €23/19, from Russan €41/37; h9am-6pm mid-
skateboard or window-
shop on the elegant May–Oct) and Canoë Le Tourbillon (%04 66 22 85 54;
www.canoeletourbillon.com; 3 chemin du Gardon, Collias; from
place that’s home to an Collias adult/child €23/17, from Russan €36/24; h9am-7pm
astonishingly beautiful Apr-Sep), both based near the village bridge, rent out
and preciously intact kayaks and canoes (€20 per person for two hours)
1st-century-AD temple, from March/April to October.
the Maison Carrée (place
de la Maison Carrée; adult/child
€6/5; h9.30am-8pm Jul & uphill walk brings you to sengers €18, after 8pm €10,
Aug, shorter hours Sep-Jun). the crumbling, 30m-high by bicycle or on foot €7, after
Skip the 22-minute film Tour Magne (quai de la 8pm €3.50; hvisitor centre & PROVENCE & SOUTHEAST FRANCE 21 ROMAN PROVENCE
and instead stroll over to Fontaine; garden free, Tour museum 9am-8pm Jul & Aug,
the elegant Jardins de la Magne adult/child €3.50/3; shorter hours Sep–mid-Jan &
Fontaine. The remains h9am-8pm Jul & Aug, shorter mid-Feb–Jun) on approach.
of the Temple de Diane hours Sep-Jun). Built in 15 Nature (and clever place-
are in its lower northwest BC as a watchtower and ment of car parks and
corner and a 10-minute display of imperial grunt, visitor centres) has cre-
it is the only one that ated one bravura reveal.
remains of several that Spanning the gorge is a
LINK once spanned the 7km- magnificent three-tiered
YOUR long ramparts. aqueduct, a marvel of
TRIP 1st-century engineering.
54 p244 It was built around 19 BC
k Rhône Valley The Drive » The D6086 is by Agrippa, Augustus’
Join up with direct, but sacrifice 15 minutes, deputy, and it’s huge: the
this trip in Orange for and take route d’Uzès (D979). 275m-long upper tier,
several great Roman This way, leave Nîmes’ snarly 50m above the Gard, has
sites in Vienne, and traffic behind and suddenly find 35 arches. Each block
Lyon’s Roman theatres yourself on a quiet stretch of (the largest weighs over
winding road skirting grey rocky
and great Gallo-Roman gorges and honey-stone villages. 5 tonnes) was hauled in
museum. Cut east via Sanilhac-Sagriès by cart or raft. It was
on the D112, then turn off at once part of a 50km-
n Riviera Crossing Begude’s roundabout. long system that carried
The Cote d’Azur water from nearby Uzès
shares the Roman TRIP HIGHLIGHT down to thirsty Nîmes.
treasures, and many It’s a 400m wheelchair-
of them are in superb 2 Pont du Gard accessible walk from car
locations; head east from You won’t get a sneak parks on both banks of
Arles to Aix, then take peek of the Pont du Gard the river to the bridge
the E80 to Cannes to join (%04 66 37 50 99; www.pont itself, with a shady cafe
this trip. dugard.fr; car & up to 5 pas- en route on the right.

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