Monday 5/13/19 – Part 1 – I took an all day trip (8:30 AM – 6:30 PM) with a small group of people all over the Provence region so I’m breaking up today’s entry into two since I have so many pics to share! This entry will focus on Pont du Gard, St Rémy-de-Provence and Les Baux-de-Provence. The next entry will focus on two Hill towns in the Luberon region named Gordes and Roussillon.
The first two pics are of an aqueduct built by the Romans over 2,000 years ago called Pont du Gard. This is the world’s second highest standing Roman structure (Rome’s Colosseum is only six feet taller). The arches are twice the width of standard aqueducts, and the main arch is the largest the Romans ever built. Each stone weighs from two to six tons!
The next two pics are from the town of St Rémy-de-Provence, which gave birth to both Nostradamus and Vincent Van Gogh. The two structures are from the old Roman city of Glanum, just outside St Rémy. It was the crossroads of two ancient trade routes between Italy and Spain. The tower was built as a mausoleum by one of Glanum’s most distinguished families, and the plump triumphal arch was designed to impress visitors with scenes of Rome’s power.
The remaining pics are of the hilltop town of Les Baux-de-Provence. It crowns the rugged Alpilles (ahl-pee) mountains. In 1426, Les Baux was incorporated into Provence and France. There were lots of little alleyways (sound familiar?) and some cool mountain top views. I even included one where there was a helicopter taking off! Enjoy!
Jeff
The Wandering Italian 