Nimes Info

Nimes

We fancied a night away from home so we drove to Nimes. The location of Nimes on the Via Domitia (the main chariot route from Spain to Rome) made it attractive to a series of emperors in the first and second centuries AD. These emperors were responsible for the collection of monuments which dominate Nimes to this day. The three main attractions are the ampitheatre (Arenes), the Temple of Diana and the Maison Carree. Since it's hey day some eighteen hundred years ago Nimes has been the underdog to it's neighbours, Arles, Avignon and Montpellier. From 1983 onwards though two of the towns' mayors have heavily promoted the city with a series of building projects. They have sponsored concerts and festivals hoping to attract musicians and artists to the area, but the most ambitious project was the construction of a retractable roof over the Roman Ampitheatre. We set off from home early in the morning as we planned to stop off on the way at Pezenas. After our stop we drove on towards Nimes and once we reached the city began the search for our hotel. We were staying at the Imperator Concorde, Quai de la Fontaine, Tel: 04 66 21 90 30, Described as Nimes' best, most prestigious hotel, offering top service and amenities in an atmosphere loaded fin-de-siecle mansion with a stately garden. Well we found the road that the hotel was on without too much trouble but we just couldn't locate the actual hotel, so we drove round in circles for a few minutes. Stopping to have yet another look at the map of the town i glanced out of the car window and the hotel entrance was right there! The reason we had not seen it before was because like a lot of the buildings in the area it was covered from top to bottom in scaffolding and netting. As i got out of the car to go in and find out where the hotel car park was (another reason we had wanted to stay here, it had it's own garage), i was deafened by a huge generator that was right next to the hotel entrance. Anyway in i went and in my best French (which is c**p) i checked in (well sort of, our room wasn't ready apparently) and asked how we got round to the garage. The young lady on reception who had at first been frosty to say the least now made it perfectly clear that she didn't appreciate her time being interrupted by annoying hotel guests, maybe she was in the wrong business, or maybe my French is far worse than i think! I was informed that the garage was full! Great! The receptionist pointed out an underground car park just along the road, not wishing to carry our luggage too far i asked where i could leave our bags. She phoned someone to come and show me? Not quite sure why she couldn't have shown me herself at this point, soon realized when after about 10 minutes a bell boy appeared to show me to our room. It was ready after all. I was so concerned about Richard being sat outside in the car, probably wondering where i had disappeared to while he was illegally parked, that i didn't even look at the room just dumped our belongings on the bed and ran back downstairs. Relieved that i hadn't been abducted by aliens we set off for the car park. I think it was about four floors deep and by the third floor it was still very full, luckily we did find a spot. I said goodbye to out car (i always talk to our cars) and we headed back to the hotel to get our camera etc. When Richard saw the room he was less than impressed and i must admit it was very small and stuffy, he has asked for a queen suite with a garden view. So we went back down to the reception and spoke to the same young lady as before who informed us that we could change rooms to a larger one but it would have been at the front of the hotel where all the builders noise was being made, thanks but no thanks, we would stay where we were in our tiny little room with two very small single beds. It wouldn't normally have mattered about the room but Richard had actually booked it online and the hotel looked nice and the rooms looked large and nicely set up. Well having worked in the photographic trade for many years we both know all about the tricks of photography but i don't think this was down to clever photo's i think it was a completely different hotel! Oh well it was only for one night so we went out to explore the area. It was still reasonably early so we had a good walk around to get the feel of the place before finding somewhere to eat lunch. As we always eat French food when we go out we thought we would try something different, well not that different actually we had read about a restaurant that served English cuisine! The restaurant was called Simple Simon, 11 rue Xavier Sigalon (04 66 76 01 21), where you could enjoy fish and chips and pasties etc. We don't particularly like fish and chips but thought that it would be interesting to see what else was considered English food so we gave it a try. From the outside the restaurant didn't look any different to many of the other restaurants around but once inside it did feel quite English (apart from all of the customers talking in French that is)! It was very busy as usual as the French do eat their lunch very early, and we were there after the midday rush. We were asked if we were smoking or no smoking, we asked for smoking (Richard not me) and we were shown into a separate room adjacent to the dining room where we had entered the restaurant. The smoking area was empty, very weird. During the time we have lived in France i don't think i have seen anyone else apart from me who doesn't smoke! The chalk board displaying the days specials did nothing to wet our appetites as it was all fish based and we rarely eat fish unless we can be sure of it's freshness (that's an Egypt story). So we perused the menu and i decided on an Indian meatloaf and Richard fancied the all day brunch, because there was no evidence of fish & chips, pasties or pies to choose from. When the lovely waitress came to take out order i was told that the Indian meatloaf was being made with fish that day, so that will be two all day brunches then! The brunch was described as eggs, bacon, sausage, crudites, cheese, chutney and toast. The food did take quite a while to arrive but we were not in a hurry so we made a start on the wine. We had ordered a bottle of the house red which is usually fine and we didn't think egg and bacon warranted much more. The wine was awful, it was the first time we have ever had that happen, usually it is quite palatable. The waitress bought up a plate consisting of one and a half slices of white toast and a small dish containing the chutney. The chutney looked and tasted home made, quite spicy and nice enough, the toast was unedible as it was too crispy and shot across the room when we tried to bite it! By now we had been joined by some more diners who sat at two of the other tables. Soon after the toast the brunch arrived, it didn't look too bad, and we were not expecting anything like an all day breakfast that you would get in the U.K. This brunch consisted of two fried eggs (well they were fried originally before they were cremated that is) and in the whites of the eggs the bacon had been chopped into tiny pieces and fried in with it. I doubt if there was even one small rasher of bacon between us, oh well, there was one small sausage on each plate too but as i am not a fan of them i gave mine straight to Richard who said it was not that nice it tasted like a frankfurter but as he was very hungry he ate it anyway. The crudites consisted of chunks of carrot, courgette, and leftover potato and then there was a large chunk of cheese, maybe red leicester. None of the meal was that tasty and mine especially was stone cold, but as we had waited for so long it seemed like a bad idea to ask for it to be warmed up. We never send food back or complain unless we are happy to leave without actually eating any food because i used to have an uncle who was a chef and after the stories he used to tell us i know it's not a good idea, it is just best to leave and not go back to the restaurant again! I am sure that most restaurants can be trusted but having had severe food poisoning more than once we both prefer to err on the side of caution! Anyway, where was i, i seem to have got side tracked as usual! Right yes the food well we ate just enough to stop us being hungry and left. Maybe they were having an off day but we wouldn't recommend it, that will teach us for not eating French! After our lunch we went to the Roman ampitheatre, Les Arenes (July & Aug 9am-6:30pm, Sept-June 9am-noon & 2pm-5pm, € 4.27). Obviously this is nowhere near as impressive as the coliseum in Rome but it is still worth a look. The ampitheatre dates back to the first century, 133 metre long 101 metre wide it stands 21 metres above the street. The ampitheatre still holds crowds of up to 20,000 as was it's original design. We got there just in time for a tour, there were a lot of people waiting to enter and so we were split into three groups. We were with the English language guide although as there was so much noise being created by workmen who were removing the roof covering the centre you couldn't hear what she was saying anyway. Not that it mattered as we already knew everything she had to say, we had just wanted to go inside to take some photographs and as you are not permitted to go in alone we had to have a guide. There was one man in our group who kept trying to wander off on his own to take some pictures but he was reprimanded every time! The tour was cheap and only took about 15 minutes although it is supposedly meant to last for half an hour? We were happy enough though we had taken a couple of pictures and admired the view out over the town. Right across the road from the Arenes there was a huge corner cafe restaurant, not wanting to burn off any more valuable calories after our lunch we stopped for a drink. It was a fairly mild day so we sat outside right under one of the many patio heaters that they had on. There were quite a few people sitting outside, a large group of Canadian school children and some older French couples. The food they were eating smelt fantastic, and when you yourself have already eaten lunch it should have smelt nasty, oh well you live and learn! The Arenes used to be a very popular venue where spectators went to see the killing of exotic animals along with the gladitorial matches before the Christians banned these entertainments. After this the Visigoth used it as a fortress through the twelfth century and there are two windows remaining from then in the east section. Then once the Visigoth had gone it became a slum filling with houses and shops and churches. In 1809 restoration work began and the slum was cleared out and since the nineteenth century the ampitheatre has once again been used for public entertainment including bull fighting. Bulls have been raised in the Petite Camargue for many centuries, tauromachie (art of bull handling) represents virility to the people of the ranch land around St Gilles. The first Spanish bullfight in France was held in 1853 at Bayonne, it was so popular that the spectacle spread to the Midi and Provence. In Nimes at the Arenes the first corrida (Spanish bullfight) was held in 1865 spreading in popularity across the south by 1880. Obviously bullfighting is very dangerous and claims many lives and the government did try to ban it but backed down due to opposition from the public who love it. Apparently in one afternoon at Arenes three matadors will fight six bulls watched by an enthralled crowd. Thousands of fans come from all over France to watch the Ferias of Nimes and bullfighting is even popular in many small villages far from the area where villages club together to pay for a taurine display. Unfortunately the sun had decided to hide so the Arenes appeared very grey and dull not that this put off the many people who entered and left whilst we sat drinking over the road. Next stop for us was the Maison Caree, the square house founded in 4 or 5 AD. The Maison Carree was dedicated to Augustus' adopted grandsons. Said to be the worlds best preserved Roman temple, it still has all of it's columns and a perfectly intact roof. It was once used as a stable which seems an injustice but was also held in high esteem by Colbert, Louis XIV's prime minister who wanted to relocate the whole thing to Versailles. Now it is home to a museum (Daily: July & Aug 9am-noon & 2:30pm-7pm; Sept-June 9am-12:30pm & 2pm-6pm free admission). The Temple of Diana is just along the road from our hotel so we left this to last. It was a sacred fountain dedicated to Nemausus the goddess of the spring. Ruined walls and crumbling arches are all that are left of the temple today but if you use your imagination you get a feel for how impressive the original building must have been in Roman times. The whole area surrounding the fountain looks very well cared for with lots of lush green planting and stone stairs that lead up high above Nimes. There were lots of people wandering around and elderly couples sitting on benches relaxing. It did have a slightly edgy feel to it for me and i definitely saw some shady 'dealings' among many of the lone young guys in that area. After a brisk walk around we went back to the hotel for a siesta after which we had intended to go out to eat at a local Indian restaurant. But by that time neither of us were hungry, maybe our lunch had put us off of eating again! So we went downstairs to the hotel bar for a few drinks. There is a restaurant in the hotel next to the bar and although when we first arrived the bar was empty it soon began to fill as the evening wore on. Most of the people who came to the bar later went through to the restaurant which by the time we retired to our room was full, so i guess the food must be quite good. One thing we both noticed whilst walking around Nimes was that everyone looked ill and pale with dead eyes, which surprised us as we are used to seeing healthy looking people in France. It reminded me of the people in Day of the Triffids, maybe there are aliens after all! There is more i could say about Nimes but i didn't really take to the place, can't really put my finger on why. Maybe i just wasn't in the mood or maybe it was because we had visited Montpellier a little while before going to Nimes and we both loved it. Nimes felt sad and depressed compared to the bright cheerful lively vibe of Montpellier, although i was seriously tired whilst we were in Nimes so that may have distorted my opinion of the place. I was very happy to leave the next morning and even happier when we arrived home. Although we have enjoyed a fair amount of traveling over the years i am a home body, i love our home, i love being at home. I think i could quite happily live the life of a recluse, it must be old age creeping up on me!

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http://www.ot.nimes.fr Nimes tourist office