After a good rest, we set off to do some exploring. Nimes had been a very important colony in the Roman Empire. With a little help from the friendly person at the tourist information center, we set off to the amphitheatre or arena. (We call it a coliseum.) It was built on the 2nd century AD and is amazingly well preserved. It is a self guided tour with an audio component. We were able to sit where the locals did back in its heyday and were able to explore many areas. The views from the “nosebleed” section are spectacular and yes we both climbed up for the view. The history and information was quite fascinating.

The arena was used as a fortress during the fall of the Roman empire in the 6th century. It was occupied by the Viscounts of Nimes & the Knights of the Arena during the Middle Ages. From the 14 – 17 centuries it was used for homes, workshops and warehouses. In 1809, that was all cleared out and restoration began. It is currently used for bull fights, concerts, sports and other events. This weekend there will be a special performance about the defeat of Cleopatra.

From the Arena we found our way to the “only fully preserved temple of the ancient world. It is known as Maison Carree. Over the course of its existence it has been used for many purposes: a chapel, private house from 11-16 century a private house, a hostel, stables, a church by Augustinian monks, a depot and granary. In the 19th century the surrounding area and temple were restored. It was listed as a historic monument in 1840 and the facade was completely restored between 2006 & 2010. After Maison Carree, we went in search of more info about the Arena at the anthropologic museum. It had some very interesting items, but alas our lack of French prevented us from getting more detailed info. They are in the process of building a new museum which will have wonderful exhibits. Next on the itinerary was the denim Indigo exhibit. Peggy found it more interesting than Wayne. Nimes was well known for its textile manufacturing in the 17th century. Denim cloth was first made in Nimes by weaving 2 cotton threads diagonally for added strength & called Serge de Nimes and combined with indgo dye from Italy – “bleu de Genes”. This was anglicized to blue jeans. Levi Strauss bought the cloth from Nimes (de Nimes) which became known as denim. The video on dying the cloth with indigo was fascinating and the needle work and dying on some of the clothes that were displayed was amazing. Sorry no pics allowed.

After a busy day of sightseeing we headed back to our room for a rest and blog work until dinner time 7:30 or later. Dinner was wonderful and we look forward to another day of sightseeing. We have enjoyed our time so much and since there is much to see we extended our stay another day.
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Ciao,
Wayne & Peggy