FRANCE 2022 Trip report Day 6: Drive Annecy to Avignon, Nimes Esplanade Charles-de-Gaulle, Arènes de Nîmes [amphitheater]
DAY 6, SEPTEMBER 21, 2022
STAY
Avignon 1 night, Résidence Les Cordeliers 49 rue du Portail Magnanen, Avignon,
SIGHTS
Drive Annecy to Avignon, Nimes arena
OUR CHOICE
Our goal was to enjoy the Cote
d'azur/French riviera after the Alps region. The drive from annecy to
antibes was a bit too long . Wanted to break it up, ended up going to
avignon for a day though it looks a detour. Provence region would
have been great in lavender season, though crowded. May be june will
be good with the sight of the hardy lavendines without the peak
crowd.
Anyway, we checked out from annecy,
drove to avignon. Greeted by the lovely sight of the ramparts
AVIGNON CITY WALLS/ Remparts d'Avignon
The city centre of Avignon is entirely enclosed by 4.3 kilometres of walls., 8m high. ranked as UNESCO World Heritage,
The walls are crowned with a battlement which protect a walkway (chemin de ronde). gaps or indentations, which are often rectangular, occur at intervals to allow for the launch of arrows or other projectiles from within the defences. These gaps are termed "crenels"
were started in 1355 during the Papacy of Pope Innocent VI, to protect the city from the assaults by the roving bands of mercenaries. They were finished in 1370 under Pope Urban V.
Went inside the walls and reached the street where Our apt is.
CAUGHT UP IN ONE WAY MAZE INSIDE WALLED CITY
It was one way, but quite broad and hardly a vehicle or 2 were coming. I told son to just drive in to our apt, a few seconds will not matter. He decided to go round. Bad idea to drive the narrow lanes in the old city, there were electronic stumps and we were so lost. A sanitary worker and another guy used their badge to lower the electronic stumps, 2 other guys gave clear instructions to get out of the maze. We were finally back at our apt. They were having lunch. So we had ours in the car and then checked in.
Apartment Résidence Les Cordeliers
OUR APT WAS located in the historic centre of Avignon and is a 10-minute walk from the Avignon Central Railway Station, Palais des Papes, the main market square and Avignon Old Town
Nice apartment with some niggles
Liked · location Inside the walled city. Big openable windows.
Disliked · Kitchen had only a small saucepan. And it had 2 hotplates for the stove tops. Luckily we had our own utensils and we managed. They are closed from 12-2pm for lunch. We had to wait when we arrived. They gave us directions to the appart-hotel with street names, which are not the easiest to read; so we ended up getting stuck inside the old city with one-way streets to negotiate. Wasted time navigating through.
Parking is free inside the walls , 7pm - 8am. Tough to get spots, but we were lucky enough to find a spot.
There is a huge geyser in the tiny bathroom; blocking a bunch of space.
DRIVE TO NIMES
anyway to continue our day, Went on a drive to Nimes. .. 44 kms. Parked and walked to the arena.
Arènes de Nîmes: Ancient Roman Amphitheater
Roman monuments are scattered throughout the city, and some are the best-preserved in France. In fact, Nîmes is known as "La Rome Française" ("The French Rome"). Our target was the most famous.
the Arènes (Amphitheater) dates back to the 1st century CE. At the center of town, this impressive 133-meter by 101-meter outdoor theater is one of the best preserved of all the existing Roman amphitheaters.
The Nîmes Amphitheater was designed to provide seating for 24,000 spectators, while 124 exits allowed the entire audience to file out of the theater in a few minutes. Detailed embellishments decorate the façade, which features 60 graceful arches adorned with Doric columns.
Very impressive from outside, inside
there were a lot of metal railings to support and we felt the
theaters we had seen in Turkey had the better interiors renovated authentic, with no new eye sore metal railings like Nimes arena..
this statue honors the brave matador Christian Montcouquiol aka Nimeño II
his story is as follows
Christian Montcouquiol was the brother of Alain Montcouquiol, a bullfighter known as "Nimeño I", SO HE WAS II.. From 1975 Christian appeared in arenas in Spain, France, and Latin America as a matador.
On May 14, 1989 in Nîmes, Nimeño II and Portuguese torero Victor Mendes were scheduled to fight six bulls. Mendes was injured early in the match, and Nimeño II won renowned for defeating all six bulls single-handedly.
On September 10, 1989 in Arles, Nimeño II was hurled into the air by a bull named Pañolero. He landed on his head, fracturing his cervical vertebrae and suffering paraplegia. After months of rehabilitation, Nimeño regained the use of his legs and right arm, but his left arm remained paralyzed. On November 25, 1991, Nimeño II committed suicide by hanging himself in his garage. his memory has been honored in many places
Monument aux morts de la guerre de 1914-1918 à Nîmes/ Monument to the dead of the Gard during the First World War
Esplanade Charles de Gaulle is an urban garden of nearly one hectare in the city centre.
Esplanade Charles-de-Gaulle
The Pradier fountain
The 'Pradier fountain', carved in white marble by James Pradier, has been the centre-piece of the Esplanade since 1845. The work of Pradier adorning the Invalides, Concorde and l’ Etoile, Jardin des Tuileries in Paris. The Pradier fountain is an allegory of Nimes, a city surrounded by four rivers of the region.
Look for the female figure on the monumental fountain with a Maison Carrée on her head. Nîmes the beautiful is framed by four watercourses: two nymphs (the Nemausa spring and Fontaine d'Eure) and two heavily muscled giants (the Rhône and the Vidourle).
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Several large buildings surround the Esplanade: Arena in the West, the Court In the North and l'église Sainte-Perpétue et Sainte-Félicité (Church of Holy Eternity and bliss) in the East.
we enjoyed watching the lovely carosel rotating with happy kids on the many animals. Caught it in a video
we were caught in the evening rush hour traffic and made it back to Avignon after wasting quite some time,
The few paid parking slots in our apt complex were full. Parking is free within the walled city 7 pm -8.30am, we managed to find a free parking spot inside the walls along the perimeter .
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