"Roman Holiday" in Nimes -- One of the Most Beautiful Canals in the World

The beautiful Jardin de la Fontaine has been a popular destination in Nimes for nearly three centuries. The original Spring of Nemo built by the Romans supplied water for the city. In the 1700s as the growing city needed a better source of safe drinking water, a network of canals was constructed. It was built just after the gardens in Versailles were built for Louis XIV, and it was the first garden created for the general public and not just the monarchy.

The booming textile industry also benefited from the canal system by providing water for a new product called denim, (from the French "de" meaning "from" Nimes) which eventually became material for blue jeans. Dyers' workshops relied on water from the spring in the gardens and the flow was too irregular to be relied on at all times. The canals collected and stored large amounts of water that could be available anytime.

The canals were laid out in the eighteenth century on the site of an ancient spring and in an area that includes the Tour Magne, which hovers on a hilltop above the garden, and the Temple of Diana, located on the west side of the garden. It is interesting that an engineering public works project like this would exact such beauty and detail. It begs the question that if the canal were built today, would planners have taken such pains to design such a beautiful and accessible place instead of a functional water works project of steel and concrete?

 

The sculptures of the Nymphaeum were commissioned specifically for the Jardin de la Fontaine. The central figure represents the Nymph of Spring, who is sitting over the original spring.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This patch of green grass with a palm tree in the midst of the stone is the resident ducks' respite.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nîmes underwent some major beautification projects during the eighteenth century, however, the Jardins de la Fontaine by Jacques-Philippe Mareschal, the king's military engineer, and Nîmes' architect Pierre Dardailhon was a major achievement (1740-1749). The Romans had used this site as a source for water. It was abandoned during the Middle Ages but was later discovered during work on regulating the flow of the spring.

   

 

The statues and urns were purchased in 1747 when the Château de la Mosson near Montpelier was demolished. The following Greek gods are placed around the Source: Hades (holding a cornucopia symbolizing the underground world's wealth), Pan (fertility god), Dionysus (god of wine), and a man holding a torch.

The canals snake through the northwestern part of the city to create some interesting structures that extend over a large part of the city.

 

 

   

 

The park is a destination for many different publics. Here some young people on a school track team run through the park. The park is also a venue for concerts as indicated by the stage below.

 

 

The beautiful backdrop of the fountain provides stairways that lead to Tower of Magne (right), which is a steep climb to the summit of the hill. The 32 meter high Gallo-Roman structure was built in the third century AD for defensive purposes.

 

    

A statue of the poet, Antoine Bigot (1825-97), stands near the bottom of the grand staircase on the eastern side of the garden. He was the first French poet to write in in the Languedoc or Occitan language, which is spoken in southern France, Monaco, Italy's Occitan Valleys, Catalonia, and southern Italy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The symbol of Nimes is an alligator and palm tree. It goes back to Roman times when the Emperor Augustus conquered his arch rival, Marc Antony and his lover, Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt. Here it tops the gates of the Jardin de la Fontaine, but the symbols are found everywhere in the city in various forms. 

 

 

Two views of the grand walkway leading up to the Jardin lines the street on both sides. This is a popular walking area with the rush of water swooshing past pedestrians.

 

 

 

The walkway is dedicated to those who lost their lives in the flood of October 3, 1988. Notice the logo of Nimes: the alligator and palm tree.

 

                        

Resources

 

Nimes Office of Tourism

"Roman Holiday" in Nimes -- Train Adventures

 

My adventure to Nimes started and ended with the SNCF  train system.

Outbound, I went through Lyon, which is northward from Le Puy before it goes southward to Nimes. My return trip took me through mountains and little towns, along with some surprises that made the trip longer but more interesting.

I left Lyon on the TGV. Of course, I had heard of the TGV, but this was the first time I had ever ridden one.

TGV stands for"Très Grand Vitesse". It is a high-speed train that was a great innovation in inter-city travel in France starting in 1981--and saved the French railways, according to SNCF President Louis Gallois.

After Japan introduced the Shinkansen also known as the "Bullet Train" in 1959, the French government investigated newer, faster trains using hovercraft and the Aérotrain air-cushion vehicle. Meanwhile, the SNCF began researching high-speed trains on conventional tracks from 1966-1974 and gained approval for developing them from French President Georges Pompidou.

The TGV trains were originally designed to be powered by gas turbines, however, the 1973 oil crisis caused a reversal of that strategy, and the trains became electric. In 1976, the SNCF ordered 87 trains with the first lines of service going between Paris and Lyon. In 1981 high-speed trains were later connected to other major French cities (Marseille, Lille, Bordeaux, Strasbourg, Rennes, and Montpellier) and neighboring countries. Today, the TGV network in France carries 110 million passengers a year--and on this trip, I was glad to be one of them.

 

Nimes Arrival

I arrived in Nimes on a rainy day, but that didn't dampen my excitement at visiting this great, old city. Last year, I became acquainted with the city through GeoHistoire magazine, the French twin of National Geographic. I knew I had to visit it when I got the chance. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The train station was initially built in 1839. Between 1840-1844 a second station was built on top of a viaduct, which seems odd compared with most stations where trains go underground or at ground level. The architecture's neoclassical style is reflective of the city's Roman past as the long halls of the station sported rounded arches. 

City buses were available outside the front of the station with automatic ticket dispensers nearby. Regional buses, including the ones to the Pont du Gard aquaduct, were parked in the back of the station. Inside the station was a bicycle rental store as well as Paul's restaurant, a Starbuck's café, and Relay, an all-purpose store.

 

Training It Back to Le Puy

I was able to get a very cheap train ride back to Le Puy that went through many small towns west of Lyon instead of going through Lyon. The trip offered many scenic views of the mountains and hills. The train was not a full train like the TGV to Nimes, so there was plenty of room to stretch out without having to share a seat. This was the life, I thought, until the train stopped at Genolhac and didn't continue. Track trouble ahead. We were told we'd only be delayed by an hour's wait. However, the reality was that we'd have a three-hour wait.

 

Everyone picked up their belongings and left the train. Some of us wandered over to the café and had a cup of coffee while we waited. I had a chance to sit with a woman, and we spoke French together for half an hour. (She said I did pretty well, which increased my confidence in the language!) The café didn't offer anything but coffee. Fortunately, I had a blueberry muffin at the Nimes train station at 8 a.m. I was due to transfer trains in Langogne with an hour to spare. That would be much lunch break. However, workers on the tracks were not able to make their repairs for three hours instead of their anticipated one hour. So I not only missed my transfer, I missed getting anything to eat. 

After this long and unexpected wait in Genolhac, many of us went back to the train to pick out a seat and relax until it would resume its route. Finally, we moved. I had hoped the train would make up time and I could get on another train that would take me back to Le Puy. I searched the SNCF schedules on my cell phone and found a stop in Langogne where I was supposed to make my transfer. I decided that if I couldn't get a train back to Le Puy on this day, I would stay overnight in a hotel and go on a train in the morning. That sounded like a good plan, however, the conductor advised me to go beyond Langogne to a little town called St. Georges D'Aurac. A taxi would take me to Le Puy, just a 30-minute drive. SNCF would take care of the cost. That sounded good to me. I would later learn from the station master at St. Georges D'Aurac that this happens all the time, and this was the way SNCF takes care of its passengers. So I learned something new about the French transportation system for future reference. 

By this time I thought it would take a long time to get to St. Georges D'Aurac, but was surprised that the stop came up so soon after we had passed Langogne. When we arrived at the station, the conductor wanted me to get off the train quickly so he grabbed my suitcase and escorted me out. The station master called the taxi and told me it would only take 5 minutes for him to arrive. Well, it took 20 minutes, but I wasn't sorry--except for my hunger pains. It was getting to be 3 p.m. and I hadn't had anything to eat since 8 a.m. save for a stick of gum that a young man gave me after he finished translating the conductor's instructions to me into English. He just happened to be there at the right moment to help me twice--and I was soooo grateful to him. It was one of those fabulous serendipitous moments that come with travel, and makes for a good story. Such people are the little angels that the travel gods set out for you to help you get to where you want to go along the way.

During my wait for the taxi, I amused myself with taking photos of this train stop that seemed to be in the middle of nowhere. There wasn't any kind of store or café here. Nothing! It was farm country with a lot of dairy cows around who are responsible for giving milk that eventually becomes Auvergne blue cheese, one of my favorites. As the taxi traveled the roads, I couldn't even find many houses! During my taxi ride, the driver and I spoke French, and I learned a few things about the area. We arrived at the train station in Le Puy just in time for me to take a small electric-powered bus to the stop near the International Centre. What great luck! 

I finally arrived home at 4 p.m. The cheap train trip that was only supposed to last 4 hours had taken 8 hours--and I was famished. As we sat and waited on the train tracks in Genolhac, I fantasized about what I would eat when I arrived home--something quick and satisfying. I decided on my go-to for comfort food: pasta with olive oil, garlic powder, and Parmisean Reggiano--and a salad with Cæsar dressing. Mmm-good!!!

 

"Roman Holiday" in Nimes -- The Street

 

One of the first things you see after you leave the Nimes train station and walk down the long promenade is the imposing figure of the Queen of Nimes. She stands tall and proud at the top of a fountain flanked by classical lithe female and muscular male bodies reminiscent of the city's past as an important Roman city.  

This fountain was designed by James Pradier in 1851 as the new entry to Nimes via the train station. The Queen's crown is a replica of the Maison Carré, an old temple visitors will find in a 15-minute walk to the northern part of the city. The figures surrounding the Queen symbolize the rivers and springs of this area that have generously fed Nimes over the centuries.

 

 

 

 

 The Esplanade Charles DeGaulle surrounds the Queen with shrubs and trees as well as  small cabanas that serve food. It's a welcome and striking natural respite from concrete and stone that comprise much of the city.

A large metal bull stands in the Esplanade to recognize the bullfighting culture of Nimes, which takes place in the Arena. Further down the street from the Esplanade is the Arena where a famous bullfighter is honored with a statue. The Arena has played host to bullfights in the past. They continue each year now. (Inside the Arena is a small display of the bullfighting tradition in Nimes. Near the Arena is an entire bullfighting museum.)

War memorials can be found in most French cities. This one was particularly moving as it highlighted major battles fought during World War I in a sunken circular mosaic presentation accompanied by names of fallen Nimois carved onto the walls surrounding the mosaic. This memorial has to be one of the most elaborate in southern France. References to World War II were also added to the memorial.

                         

 

 

A short walk to the left of the Esplanade is a plaque that memorializes the arrival of the liberating First Division of the Free French Army at the end of World War II on August 29, 1944. Soldiers fought on the battlefields of Europe and North Africa against the Nazi Armies leaving 600,000 dead.

Both a residence and an administrative building, the prefecture was a new type of building for 19th century architects. Léon Feuchère made this prestigious building a particularly large one, laid out symmetrically around a vast main courtyard, with front steps topped by a porticoed bell tower that marks the main axis and rich decorative features.

The modern Musée de la Romanité is a response to the ancient Arena, which sits opposite it on the main road near the old city of Nimes. According to the museum's website, "the two facing buildings complete each other harmoniously through their forms, lines and masses: the oval and the rectangle, the vertical and the horizontal, the density of stone and the lightness of glass. This dialogue continues inside the museum as both the façade and the glassed inner structure use transparency and a play of perspectives to show the rich heritage of Nîmes."

 

"Designing light architecture—made possible by present technology—seemed obvious to me, as did expressing the differences between the two architectures through dialogue based on their complementarity. On one side a round volume enclosed by the verticals of the Roman stone arches and firmly anchored in the ground and on the other a large square volume, set in levitation and draped entirely in a folded glass toga." 

Elizabeth de Portzamparc, Architect

Le Petit Train takes visitors on a 45-minute city tour in English and French for only 13 Euros. (Similar tourist trains operate in several cities.) It follows the orange outline of the original city.

 

This building is a school. It stands on Victor Hugo Blvd, the western side of the ring road, which is located across from the Arena.

 

 A beautiful building on Courbet Blvd, the eastern side of the ring road around the central city of Nimes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

French streets are never dull. There is always something going on, lots of people, and a lot of things to look at. As I sat for an afternoon coffee at the Brasserie, a sidewalk café across from the Arena, a CGT demonstration suddenly appeared on the main street. The General Confederation of Labour (Confédération Générale du Travail, CGT) is a national trade union founded in 1895 in the city of Limoges (where they make the china). It is the first of five major French trade unions. According to historian M. Dreyfus, the direction of the CGT has been slowly evolving since the 1990s when it cut all organic links with the French Communist Party (PCF), in favor of a more moderate stance. Since the 1995 general strikes, the CGT has been concentrating its attention on  trade-unionism in the private sector.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This modern fountain is tucked into a walkway between a row of restaurants and apartment buildings just off the main road.  It celebrates water, an important theme in the history of Nimes and features a couple male-female duos. The magic squares and pentagonal and octogonal figures along the concrete sides of the fountain's perimeter suggest the artist's desire to tap into a mystical theme. This area at night is especially beautiful with the lights of the outdoor restaurants and the sound of water flowing from the fountains.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

       

 

Avenue Jean Jaurès in Nimes is the tree-lined boulevard that is perpendicular to the Jardin de la Fontaine. It is one of the longest promenades in France. Its modern structure is a stark contrast to the elaborate 18th century Jardin de la Fontaine, however, it has a beauty of its own. The shallow pools allow birds to stand in them without getting wet, and the babbling fountains create a tranquil ambience.

 

 

            

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 Benches in the park are also unique.

 

 

 

 

 

A little French history about Jean Jaurès for whom this avenue is named. Jaurès was an extraordinary man who championed "freedom of thought, resistance to outside power, love for nature and for common people, opposition to violence", according to Reuss & Reuss in their book, The Unknown South of France (1991).

Jaurés (1859-1914) started out as a teacher at the lycée in Albi and then became a professor of philosophy at the University of Toulouse where he eventually turned to politics. He won election to the National Assembly in 1885 by defeating the dominant conservative Catholics and anti-clerics, who were dominant in southern France at the time. 

In 1892, after 3,000 coal miners in Carmaux went on strike, Jaurès became their advocate, which brought him to national prominence. He was an excellent orator and in 1894 with Emile Zola, became an advocate for the release of Captain Alfred Dreyfus who had been falsely accused of treason trumped up by an anti-Semitic army clique.

He fought against militarism and anti-Semitism and influenced anti-war sentiment before World War I. He founded the French socialist party, which in 1981 finally elected François Mitterand as president of the Republic. He was assassinated in 1914 in a Paris café by a right-wing fanatic because of for his anti-war beliefs. 

    

 

The Clock Tower in Nimes is called the Tour de l'Horloge. It was built in the 15th and 16th centuries and is located in the Centre Ville. The square is comprised of several restaurants and boutiques, and it is one of  several squares in the old city.

 

Some street theatre appeared in the Centre Ville one evening. It was not at all clear what these characters were, but they were fun to watch. That's what the street is all about:  spontaneity, fun, openness, and performance by anyone for anyone.

        

Sources

Nimes Office of Tourism

The Unknown South of France: A History Buff's Guide. Henry and Margaret Reuss (1991). Boston:  The Harvard Common Press.