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Roman ruins and wine in the Rhone Valley

Avignon. Picture: Richard Pennick

Richard Pennick finds ancient history amid charming landscapes in the south of France.

The arches of Pont du Gard aqueduct glowed in the morning sun. This enduring tribute — to the genius of Rome — has stood in place for over 2000 years.

Two days earlier, we’d arrived in the walled medieval city of Avignon on the Rhone. Our intent was to experience the beauty of southern Provence — its hilltop villages, its vineyards — and Roman history.

It was Sunday evening and we joined the locals on Cours Jean Jaures, a tree-lined boulevard leading to the restaurant plaza, Place de l’Horloge. At Le Jaquemart, we ordered baked white bean and duck casserole, veal scallops with a cream mushroom sauce, a demi carafe of Cotes du Rhone white and a green salad with a garlic, mustard and red-wine dressing. A smooth creme caramel topped off a perfect meal.

After dinner, we continued our walk to the cobbled expanse of the Place du Palais and the immense medieval Palais du Papes, said to be the biggest Gothic palace in the world. The walls are metres thick and the function halls are enormous. Brilliant frescoes in the palace’s St Martial chapel depict events in the saint’s life. Next door to the palace, the Romanesque Avignon Cathedral holds yet more exquisite art.

“Sur le Pont d’Avignon” — so the song goes. Our hotel overlooked the 14th-century city wall and, the following morning, we walked around the wall to the “bridge”, which stretches only half way across the river. Self-consciously, we sang what we could remember of the song. Continuing our walk, we went under the wall’s battlements to explore the narrow streets of old Avignon.

Later that morning, we travelled south out through vineyards and olive groves to the medieval mountain village of Les Baux-de-Provence. This little place was built on a rocky hilltop, concealing it from passing bandits and armies. The rough stone alleys lead up to the ruined castle, where a formidable trebuchet — a rock-throwing catapult — is centrepiece in a collection of medieval siege engines. A small cafe hidden up narrow steps served us excellent croissants, fine coffee and a view of the rugged Alpilles mountains.

That afternoon, we put a place to a name on visiting Chateauneuf-du-Pape, an attractive little town of wine cellars and restaurants. Surrounded by enormous vats in Les Vins Skalli, we tasted the great wines of the Rhone.

The following morning, the magnificent silhouette of the Pont du Gard aqueduct rose before us. Enormous limestone blocks cut from a nearby quarry form three tiers of arches nearly 50m high, stretching across the Gardon River.

We climbed the hillside beside the ancient structure, stood on the top tier and looked down into the watercourse. Behind us, hand-hewn into the mountain rock was a tunnel through which 30,000 cubic metres of water a day once flowed from the distant Eure Valley spring. Roman engineers (and slaves) directed a series of gradually falling channels and tunnels across the aqueduct to the reservoir at Nimes, 50km away.

On arriving in Nimes, Emperor Antoninus Pius hailed us as we circled the leafy avenues, his marble arm raised in acceptance of both tribute and adulation. Nimes was the principal city of Roman settlement and rule in Gaul (France) until the 5th century.

Nimes’ Hotel Imperator retains many features of its gracious past. The elegant lobby and lounge look out to well-tended gardens and a sweeping stone staircase spirals around an ancient elevator to three floors of spacious rooms.

The hotel overlooks the ornamental Quai de la Fontaine canal. Before breakfast the next morning, we followed the canal to the 18th-century Jardin de la Fontaine, with its tranquil pools, statues, giant vases and the Roman temple of Diana. Beyond, a terraced flower garden wound up through the trees to remains of the massive Tour Magne atop Mt Cavalier. The tower once rose 18m above the Roman fortifications.

The first-century Arena of Nimes has been beautifully restored. In its heyday, it seated 24,000 spectators on 34 stone terraces. The concourse beneath still guides spectators into the arena for “no kill” bull-fighting and other events.

The late afternoon sun held the splendour of Maison Carree (16 BC). We stood in the Roman temple’s high portico and marvelled at the ancient Corinthian pillars. Giant bronze doors opened to a sparse interior with a cinema screening Nemausus: the Birth of Nimes, an enlightening 22-minute film on the founding of Nimes.

The following morning, we posed in fields of sunflowers so often painted by Vincent van Gogh. The artist lived in nearby Arles from 1888-1889 producing 187 known paintings. Alas, none of the originals remain in Arles.

There are tantalising remnants of Roman presence around Arles old town. In Place du Forum, a temple facade relic is built into the Grand Hotel Nord Pinus frontage. The Place du Forum transforms into a lively bar and restaurant plaza in the evenings.

It was a pleasure to wander Arles quiet, car-free cobbled streets and squares with their tempting bakeries and welcoming cafes. A blackboard outside Le Bar a Thym announced fresh almond croissants and warm jam beignets; we stopped for coffee and one of each.

There is also a smaller Colosseum-style arena in Arles. We walked around the stone terraces and the cool vaulted concourse below. Enclosed by homes, the arena continues to be a centre of community activity and those “no kill” bull-fights. In the peaceful Jardin d’Ete park opposite, the semicircular Roman amphitheatre remains a popular open-air venue for concerts and plays.

The Departmental Museum of Ancient Arles on the edge of town is a must see. It includes items recently retrieved by divers from the Rhone River; among them is a rare bust of Julius Caesar dated before 50BC. Nearby, the partial excavation of Emperor Constantine baths reveals the grandeur that was once the emperor’s palace.

Gaul fell to the Visigoths in the 5th century and the Romans left. We left Arles to connect with the TGV fast train for Paris and were there in time for dinner on the Champs-Elysees.