Nimes

Our multiple entry tickets for Arles attractions still had two unused parts, so before departing the city we used them up.  First was the 4th century Baths of Constantine.  These were public baths with a low entrance fee, encouraging the general population to use them.  Cold, warm, and hot baths were available for men, women, and children.

Roman Maison Carree

Next door to the Baths is the Musee Reattu, housed in the Grand Priory of the Order of Malta and built in the late 15th century.  It contains among other items works by local artist Jacque Reattu, drawings by Picasso, sculpture and photographs.  After a law in 1793 ordered the sale of all holdings of the Order, the Priory was purchased by Reattu who lived and worked here.  

We took the autoroute northwest to Nimes, planning to make a brief stop here to see the arena and then carry on to Avignon.  Built in 70 AD, it has a capacity of 16,000 in 34 rows of seats.  Parts of the third tier still exist, unlike Arles' arena.  It is currently used for a number of musical events and two annual bullfights.  As we used our audio guides to envision the original gladiator contests, the thunderstorm hit and continued for 45 minutes.  Checking the radar on our iPad, it was obvious that a line of storms was headed our way, and that Nimes was going to be our destination instead of Avignon.

A break in the rain at 2 sent us across the street to a delicious lunch--our best so far.  Our combo ticket gave us entry to the Maison Carree, a Roman temple built in 16 AD and dedicated to Augustus, and considered one of the best preserved Roman temples.  The building is currently used to present a dramatic film on the founding of the city. Lonely Planet indicated that this could easily be skipped--a correct assessment.

Jardins de la Fontaine

We headed for the third ticket location, the Tour Magne.  Passing the **** Hotel Imperator, we pulled out our iPad and decided to check the rates.  We booked a room and continued on our way through the Jardin de la Fontaine towards the Tower.  Rob wanted to climb, and I was happy to return to our hotel room.  The rain hit again as he reached the top of the tower.  In the early evening, again during a rain break, we walked back to the arena and retrieved our sodden bike.

When we visited the Roman Pont du Gard last year we were amazed to learn that the aqueduct that crossed that bridge was carrying water 50 km (crow-fly was 25 km) from Uzes to Nimes, with a drop of only 12 meters!  Tonight Rob, on his evening walk, found the outlet in Nimes which then distributed the water to various areas of the city. Roman engineering was incredible!  For more info see:  http://www.romanaqueducts.info/aquasite/nimes1/