Hotel d’Aragon in Montpellier: 43°36’30.1″N 3°52’54.9″E

(10 Rue Baudin, 34000 Montpellier, France)

Pont du Gard Historic Site en Route to Avignon: 43°56’50.4″N 4°32’07.2″E

Maison Boussingaul B&B, Avignon: 43°56’45.4″N 4°48’12.3″E

(39 Rue Boussingault, 84000 Avignon, France)

We had an early breakfast so we could get started on our drive from Montpelier to Avignon before there was much traffic on the roads. We were hoping that traffic in the city and on the highways would be lighter because it was early Sunday morning. Fortunately that proved to be the case. It only took us about 90 minutes to drive the 86 kilometers from our hotel to the Pont du Gard UNESCO world heritage historic site.

The Pont du Gard is a viaduct (bridge) that was built by the Romans over 2,200 years ago. The bridge has three tiers of arches & stands 48.8 m (160 ft) high. The aqueduct formerly carried an estimated 40,000 m3 (8,800,000 imp gal) of water a day over 50 km (31 mi) to the fountains, baths and homes of the citizens of Nîmes. 

PHOTO ABOVE –  PONT DU GARD

PHOTO ABOVE – PERSPECTIVE OF SIZE OF THE PONT DU GARD NOTE THE PEOPLE ON THE MIDDLE OF THE BRIDGE

It’s hard to imagine how this structure was built so long ago. It is absolutely massive and very well preserved. The individual stones used to build it are enormous. Catherine and I walked around the site and viewed the viaduct from both sides of the river. We were fortunate to be there on a national heritage holiday for France so there was no admission fee to the site or to the site’s visitor center/interpretive museum.

We also toured the visitor center/interpretive museum. It is exceptionally well done with numerous video presentations and static displays. This entire site is well worth the effort to visit & you could easily spend most of the day exploring it.

It only took us about 30 minutes to drive about 25 kilometers from the site to our B&B. Getting into the city was relatively easy but finding our B&B proved to be a bit of a challenge because the entrance to it is located in a very narrow alley that is not normally driven on by local traffic. After circling through the area a few times I found a place on the street to pull over that was very close to where our GPS was telling us that “we had arrived at our destination”. Catherine hopped out of the car to try & find the B&B. A few minutes later she came back with our host & he guided us to our overnight parking spot that was just a 2 minute walk from where we were staying.

Our room was not quite ready so our host directed us to a nearby restaurant where we could get something to eat & then back to the B&B for a bit of a rest. A few hours later Barb & Bruce arrived from their adventures & after getting settled we all headed out for dinner.

PHOTO ABOVE – CATHERINE POINTING TOWARDS OUR B&B ENTRANCE FOR BRUCE & BARB

PHOTO ABOVE – OUR PRIVATE COURTYARD AT OUR B&B

Tomorrow Catherine & I go to Arles to explore the city & its historic sites.

Cheers!