Today we are off to see the Pont Du Gard…a Roman Aqueduct that spans the Gardon River. It was built around the 1st century AD to carry water from the mountains to the city of Nimes and it was about 31 miles long.
The engineering is amazing as the drop over those 31 miles was
only about 40 feet. And they built it in
sections…everything lined up…the water
flowed…and they did the calculations using Roman Numerals. It boggles the mind.
The bridge has six
very large arches on the lower level, 11 on the middle and 35 on the top. It is 160 feet from the top of the bridge to
the water level (when low) and the bridge is now over 900 feet long (some of it
has been lost…it used to be even longer).
There were a lot of people enjoying the cool river waters.
We also visited the museum there. There were artifacts, tools and explanations about how the aqueduct was constructed as well as a movie.
Then it was back to Avignon where we spent the afternoon relaxing.
In the evening they brought on a great group…Les Guitares de Carmargue. They are from the Carmargue area at the Rhone River delta and are originally from Spain. And are part gypsy. And they were great.
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Video 1 of Les Guiares performance
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Video 2 of Les Guiares performance
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