Today was sunny and hot (73 F). Went out for bread and croissants. Stopped for a coffee in a sunny spot on the Place aux Herbes. A French couple were sitting at a table for four, drinking coffee and reading the papers, and moved to a smaller table to let a group of four Brits have their table. They sat beside us and the man said (in French of course) "I am happy to move for you. We are all on vacation!" Which sums it up on the lovely, sunny Sunday - we are all on vacation.
There was an antiques market in the Place - some nice things, lots of junk. People were strolling and looking. People sitting at the outside tables of the many cafes having morning coffee. I saw two large walking groups go by our house, under our windows.
We put on our hiking things and headed out to the trails at the crack of noon. There were many other hikers on the trails, all French. We had a detailed conversation with two guys, looking at maps, talking about trails, looking at their special GPS for walking (I want one!). People from different countries, different cultures, uniting as walking geeks.
Uzes is a vacation destination - for the French, for Brits, for Americans, etc.
The hiking trails are well signed. There is a confusing bit on the edge of Uzes which I have finally figured out (the trail marker is painted on what looks like a private driveway but isn't). We walked for three hours. Out from Uzes following roughly the path of the Nimes Aqueduct to a place where the map promised some nice aqueduct remains. At the trail intersection near the place a sign said Aqueduct Remains 0.4km. And that was the last indication of anything. We finally figured out it was a long bump in a field. The aqueduct went underground most of the way and this bump was where it ran.
Walked back to Uzes, over their small mountain, and to the Eure River Valley (where the aqueduct started) to a festival. This one was celebrating sheep herding and geese. Last year we went to one that was celebrating bread and wine. Lots of families, lots of geese.
We got Onion Beignets at the food stalls. Wonderful! Everything else was meat or fish, so we skipped them. Walked back "home", changed into non-hiking clothes, and went out to have fabulous ice cream at the place where the Truffle store used to be. This is artisanal ice cream and sorbet with really unusual flavors. I had lemon made with Moroccan mint tea - incredible.
Walked around trying to see our tower from the street, but we can't. We may have to climb the Medieval Garden tower just to look down on our house and tower.
The apartment is very comfortable. The kitchen is well equipped.
The weather doesn't look great for the next few days. 61F tomorrow - 12 degrees colder! - and some rain. We will see. Sometimes forecasts of rain are just short showers. We have our rain coats.
We went out to the Tourist Office when we got here Saturday afternoon to find it was only open Saturday morning and then closed on Sunday. Why be open on the weekend when everyone is visiting? We will go tomorrow. I want to see about bus schedules in case we want to walk out and ride back. I am not so sure about our plan to walk to the Pont du Gard. Many parts of the trail are on small roads. I like to walk on trails in the woods or fields - not for miles along a road where you can drive. I think the best trail to the Pont du Gard is from Vers, where you walk along the aqueduct remains that we saw last time. We can park in Vers, then walk an hour to the Pont du Gard, and then walk back.
Photo of Steve on the trail.
Photo of some Nimes Aqueduct remains (or so I think).