Early morning coffee and croissant waiting for the bus in Port St Louis. The Rhone flowing thick and fast in the background.
Noticed that there is a school called Jules Verne in town. Have now read up on Jules Verne and it seems like he had no connection with port St Louis. He was born in Nantes. Had three sailing boats in a row named Sant-Michel 1, 2, and 3, with which he sailed around Europe. Maybe he launched his boats in Port St. Louis? So the school has nothing to do with science fiction.
The elderly couple with the little boy who spend one night next to us in Port Napoleon boarded the bus to Arles. I could not help to take a photo of them holding hands across the isle. Not sure if this is allowed, photographing people without informing them, but this is so sweet. We spoke to them at the stop in Arles and they told us they were taking their boat to Germany.
Arrived in Nimes which is a city under construction at the moment. Even with the GPS directing us ( 300 m agauche, rester adroit etc etc or something like that) we landed up in an underground parking garage where we drove round and round, still following the agauche adroit untill we finally surfaced in a completely different part of town! Or that's what it felt like.
Found our hotel at 13.20, which is sailing close to the wind in France if you want lunch. All lunch restaurants close at 14.00. ( even the AVIS office closes from 12-15). The hotel recommended a number of restaurants nearby. We went into one that looked cosy and lo and behold, they had Malva pudding from South Africa on the menu!
There was no way we could walk away from that and enjoyed a wonderful lunch at the Restaurant L'Esclafidou run by Elmarie from Cape Town and her French husband Stefan!
Is was such a pleasant surprise and such fun to meet them and enjoy their food. Photo is a bit blurred but that is because of the good meal! Can recommend L'Escafidou to anyone visiting Nimes.
Even met two very jolly lunch guests!
A few photos of a quick walk around Nimes
The Cathedrale Notre-Dam-et-Saint-Castor de Nimes is believed to stand on the site of the former temple of Augusts.
Out hotel is in a 16 th century building.
Roman monuments are scattered through Nimes. Could this be Julius?
The amphitheatre is used today, amongst others for bullfighting. Bullfighting is popular in this part of France. The first bullfight was held in Nimes in 1811 and since 1863 the bullfights are held in the Arenes. We have heard that there are great festivities in Nîmes during the bullfights.
So that was a short and sweet visit to Nîmes. We have heard the the lock leading to the Rhone will open on Thursday, a day early. And it seems like Thursday is going to be a bit sunny and a bit less wind. Let's hope we can be on our way on Thursday.
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