On to L'Isle s/l Sorgue via Nimes

Day 5:

We really liked Pezenas and what we saw of the Languedoc Roussillon region. Anja came to check us out of the air b&b, which we would definitely stay in again, then we dragged our bags the few short blocks to the parking lot.

There were so many places we wanted to see between Pezenas and L'Isle sur la Sorgue, where we'd stay for 4 nights, but we settled on Nimes. And we loved our quick visit.

We parked by the Arena and then walked around, guided by Michelin, of course.

We started by Esplanade Charles-de-Gaulle and took pictures of the Pradier Fountain (1848).

 We walked around the square toward the Arena. The buildings along the Esplanade were gorgeous.

At the Arena, we decided we were hungry and that we'd tour it after seeing more of the town (since we had to come back here anyway).

Lunch was at a popular student stop, Crocshow. Decent sandwiches and clean table to eat them on.

Our next stop was Maison Carree, which is a wonderfully preserved Roman era temple, in continuous use since the 11C. Inside, there's nothing to see, really, other than the movie about the Romans in Nimes, but outside is spectacular.

 The adjacent street was filled with lovely buildings and interesting shops.

Across the square from Maison Caree is this modern building which houses the Carre d'Art Museum.

We wound our way down some pretty streets with the plan to climb to the Tour Magne

Square Antonin

Quai de la Fontaine was just gorgeous and led us to the Jardins de la Fontaine.

We perused the hike up to the Tour Magne and decided to just drive!

Back along pretty streets with fabulous water elements. Very unique.

We needed a water break ourselves (haha) so stopped at the Bar des Beaux Arts cafe by fine arts museum and refreshed ourselves.

We left the cafe and marveled at the Gothic House (Maison Gothique) from the 14C

Then onto the main Nimes attraction: the Arena. We paid for the audioguide and it was very well done. Were there at least an hour.

Tour over (we could have stayed longer, really), we wandered back to the car. We both really liked historical Nimes (not so much the ugly modern sprawl) and could see ourselves spending a couple of nights there. We decided against going to Tour Magne because it was getting on in the day.

The place de l'Horloge was ready for customers but we had to get on the road again.

The drive to L'Isle sur la Sorgue took us through Avignon, which was incredibly congested with lots of road construction. Very frustrating and slow going. 

The GPS routed us to our air b&b without trouble. The roads were super narrow and I was really glad, again, that we insisted on the smaller car. The place had off the street parking which was a godsend!

I'd chosen L'Isle sur la Sorgue for our Provence base because the fodor's and tripadvisor forums experts described it as easy to get in and out of while still being small but with enough to be interesting. We were pleased with this little town. It didn't feel as touristy as some of the others we saw.

We took our first walk around town around sunset. It was really pretty.

The grocery store was close to the apartment.

And this fabulous wine and cheese bar was, too! Husband picked out a delicious Chateneuf de Pape which we would look for (and indulge in) throughout the rest of the trip.

We wandered back to the apartment for the night. 

Next: LISLS Market, Avignon and Pont du Gard.