Help Needed Resources for Uzes Area?

[Amy]

We will be in a village near Uzes for a week in mid October. Would anyone have recommendations for detailed guidebooks or websites for the area; or specific things to suggest for touring, eating, wandering around? Our interests include architecture (especially Romanesque and Medieval) , food and wine, scenery, history, picnicking, markets, poking around towns.
Thanks!

 

[Ann]

Hi Amy. I hope you're planning to visit the replica of Chauvet, the Caverne du Pont d'Arc, which is about an hour north of St.-Siffret by the most direct route. I believe there is only one guided tour per day in English, so I'd reserve online -- http://en.cavernedupontdarc.fr/home-page/. Then I'd return by another route, viewing the beautiful Gorges de l'Ardeche from the D290.

 

[Ann]

I just checked my notes from our stay in St.-Siffret, in 2011, and several of our favorite restaurants have closed. A couple that are still open are La Table 2 de Julien, in Montaren-et-Saint-Mediers, less than 3 miles northwest of Uzes, and L'Estanquet in St.-Maximin, less than 3 miles south of St.-Siffret. We also enjoyed L'Alpha B in Collias , a pretty, untouristed village, and Le Tracteur in Argilliers, about 5 miles from Uzes. Le Bistrot de Grezac, an outdoor cafe in Uzes, has good mussels and raw oysters. One small nearby town that's interesting is Saint-Quentin-la-Poterie, famous (as you might guess) for its pottery. Here is one of our favorite poteries there: http://www.bernier-ceramiste-potier.fr/

 

[phirhon]

We are also going to be staying a little further north of Uzes, about 40kms, in October and it looks to be an interesting area. We always visit any Plus Beaux Villages in our vicinity, but really, we just enjoy wandering around villages in general. I think La Roque sur Ceze and Aigueze may be close for you. I like this site as it lists more villages. It is only in French unfortunately.
http://villagesdefrance.fr/
I use this as a start point for further research. We have already driven along the Gorges of the Ardeche but are hoping to visit some villages up that way which we did not see in 2010.
Of course you have the Pont du Gard and Nimes to visit. We will not go down that far but have been to the Pont. Uzes is lovely . We did not stay there but visited on a day trip and drove home via Chateauneuf du Pape. We went because we could ,not because we are wine experts, so I would only go if wine is one of your interests. I remember having a picnic lunch in Saint Laurent des Arbres at a table in the village. It was as parents were returning their children to school after lunch, and there was a constant stream of smiling ' bon appetits' as they passed us.
We are researching our trip and I find that the more we dig beneath the surface of the obvious the more we find to do.
Bon voyage. I will look forward to your report

 

[veronicafrance]

We liked Ten in Uzès for a light meal, not your typical French bistro style. Not relevant for you but we also had our best AirBnB stay ever, with a lovely couple with whom we shared many interests.

 

[Amy]

Thank you Ann, Phirhon and Veronica! I am starting to put together my Google map; as always, I end up finding many more things to investigate than we have time for! I also enjoy just turning off whenever we see a little sign for church or chateau; and talking to local people who always steer us to something unexpected.

 

[Pauline]

We’ve stayed in Uzes three times. I really like the town. I have a few notes about sites there.

Pont du Gard, including other parts of the Aqueduct.
https://www.sloweurope.com/daytrip/1614/pont-du-gard/

A huge standing stone.
https://www.sloweurope.com/daytrip/1920/la-leque-standing-stone/

Four Roman mileage markers you could see on your way there.
https://www.sloweurope.com/daytrip/1881/via-domitia-beaucaire-milestones/

An ancient abbey dug out of the rocks that you might go by on your way there.
https://www.sloweurope.com/daytrip/1880/saint-roman-abbey/

 

[Roz]

Hi, Amy,

Definitely agree with Ann about the Chauvet cave. If you haven't seen Cave of Forgotten Dreams, the film about the cave, you can get it from Netflix.

We stayed near Uzès several years ago, and loved the area too. The highlight of our trip was canoeing under the Pont du Gard, but maybe that's not so good in the fall if things have been dry in the region.

A book I read and enjoyed at the time, partly set in Uzès, was La Vie en Rosé by Jamie Ivey. It isn't a travel book, per se, but just some fun light reading.

We stayed in a gite that's no longer being rented. But the owners' daughter (an American -- also named Amy in fact) and her husband run a small winery nearby that you might find interesting to visit:
La Gramiere
At least I think they're still in business, as their website is still running, although it doesn't seem to have been updated lately. I notice the website says that a shop in Boston carries their wine, so you might be able to find it there if you want to check it out.

We didn't visit the winery, although we did enjoy the free bottles they left for us at the gite. But if you're interested, I can send you an email I got from them about the location, which is near Roman ruins. They told us it was a great place for a picnic, although we never followed up.

I'm sure you'll have a great time in Uzès. I'll look forward to seeing your blog when you're there.

- Roz

 

[Pauline]

But if you're interested, I can send you an email I got from them about the location, which is near Roman ruins.

I love Roman ruins and will return to Uzes someday. What and where are they?

You had that great suggestion of walking to Pont du Gard from Vers du Pont, which we did on one of our trips. It was a really great walk. I loved all the bits of the aqueduct along the way. Plus you get into Pont du Gard free

 

[Pauline]

There is a very good vegetable and food shop in central Uzes - Gaiffier Jean-Claude. Great fruit and vegetables, plus a lot of organic grains and beans. The center of Uzes is surrounded by a ring road. This shop is on that road, in the north east corner. I'll try to embed a map of the location.

View: https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m18!1m12!1m3!1d717.3457596767596!2d4.42226049688517!3d44.01347854632841!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!3m3!1m2!1s0x12b5b56173b10517%3A0x1bc5394056fada7b!2sGaiffier+Jean-Claude!5e0!3m2!1sen!2suk!4v1528142149661

 

[Pauline]

My favorite cafe was Au Suisse d'Alger, just north of the Place aux Herbes. I loved sitting at the outside tables and watching the world go by. Uzes is pretty upscale, so there are some very nice shops.