Nîmes France 🇫🇷 The Most Roman City Outside of Italy
We can’t seem to get away from Roman ruins no matter where we go in Europe. So why not go to a lovely city in France dubbed “the most Roman City Outside of Italy”?
Avignon is wonderful to have as a travel hub. We took advantage of this with day trips during our stay. Traveling to Nîmes was definitely on our list of cities to explore. We both are glad we did.
When we arrived, we were struck by the wide-open promenade from the train station directly into the heart of the town. We were no longer in a walled city, and having more wide-open spaces felt very invigorating compared to the walled city of Avignon. Annette & I were instantly enamored by the beauty and perceived welcoming nature of the wide-open space of this city.
A brief history, I can’t help myself.
Nîmes is in the Occitania region of France; the name of the city was adopted from a local Celtic water deity, Nemausus.
The Romans defeated the Gallic tribes in the area in 121 BCE.
Denim (the fabric) comes from de Nîmes (from Nîmes).
Our day was filled with many wonderful sights, including one of the most well-preserved Roman amphitheaters that is still in use today. The Roman temple Maison Carrée, Temple of Diana, and the Augustan Gate. One stop of particular interest was the Castellum divisorium of Nîmes. This was of particular interest to us since it was the means of distributing water to the city that was supplied by the Pont du Gard, a Roman aqueduct that we visited the next day. We almost felt we were back in Italy.
Since we did feel we were back in Italy, we stopped for lunch, and Annette had a pizza from Le petit Jules Brasserie. We were so happy we did; this place was fantastic.
We then wandered around town, taking the back alleys and less traveled areas just to enjoy this city. We both enjoyed our time here and would love to come back to explore the area even more.
What a blessing it is to be able to enjoy a new city at a relaxed pace. Life is good!
Until next time…
