Breakfast is served from 8 am to 11 am. We are downstairs by 10 am. Good breakfast selections of fruit, cereals, eggs, yogurt, cold cuts, cheeses, juices etc. They bring a basket of two croissants, toasted baguettes and fresh baguette pieces. We love the French croissants! Flaky on the outside, tender and soft inside and fantastic tastes. You help yourself and coffee/tea are served. Upon return to our room, Lana is on a mission to kill any insects or spiders that are on our ceiling. Mission accomplished. We have no firm plans for today, but pick up a pamphlet about the Roman ruins in Nîmes but believe that city is near Avignon. Nope, they are very distant from each other. In fact, Nîmes is in the Languedoc region which abuts Provence. It is a long trip on the freeway. Some many kilometres before Nîmes our GPS dies.
LANA: Some of you may recall that during our Germany/Luxembourg/France and Belgium trip last year, we entered into a "love-hate" three-way relationship with another woman who was controlling, directive and would just stop talking mid-sentence. Well, she's baaaaaaaaccckkk!! Yes, we have another GPS for our trip in France and this one taught us something new. We used to think the worst thing a GPS could say was "recalculating route" meaning--you've taken a wrong turn somewhere you idiot, and now I need to figure out how to put you back on track. Well, this GPS had two words that were worse--LOW BATTERY!!! Yes, despite being plugged into the cigarette lighter AND the green light being on--part way into Nimes, the low battery message flashed up and then the GPS went black!!! Can you spell h-e-a-r-t a-t-t-a-c-k???? Despite turning the unit off, checking the power cord and trying everything, it kept flashing the low battery message.
RANDY: No time to panic, but we are in a country we have never been to before, no good maps in the car and our GPS isn't working. We aren't exactly sure where we are although the signs show Nîmes. We have no way of finding our way back to our accommodations either given it is very rural and full of confusing small roads with poor signage. We decide to keep heading to Nîmes as it is a large city and a good chance we might find another Europcar agency. Many streets although we stick to following signs that say city centre or Central Nîmes. No tourist agency that we can see. Next decision is to stop near a hotel and ask the clerk if they know of a Europcar agency in Nîmes. We luck out and park illegally and the clerk speaks english. There is a Europcar near the train station and it is about a 10 minute walk. We drive around and find a parking spot we think is free and won't be towed.
Walk to train station using the map provided by the hotel clerk. The Europcar is not open, but should be open at 2 pm. There is a local restaurant open with outdoor dining and very casual. Server not too friendly, but finally she delivers a menu. I order a tomato/mozzarella salad and Lana a paté sandwich.
Tomato and mozzarella salad - huge!
Not the best salad and the dressing overwhelmed the lettuce and vega, but it was a tourist kind of a place and cheap. Around 2:30 pm we visit the Europcar with our crappy GPS unit. They will switch our unit for a Garmin GPS unit which was promised to work. Wow, what a sigh of relief. We decide to enjoy our visit to Nîmes and visit the "best preserved amphitheatre in the world from the Roman era." Its official name is Arènes de Nîmes. We get in the very long queue and wait for about 45 minutes before we can enter. Huge family behind us kept bumping us despite our evil eyes! No idea of personal space. Ha Ha
Free audio guides come with the entry ticket price. The Roman amphitheatre was spectacular! Although some event was going to be staged later that night and the floor was being set up. We spent some time up and down the stairs and finding cool air in the tunnels. It is super hot and sunny today.
Easy to imagine being in the ancient Roman times and enjoying the spectacles.
Decide to walk up Victor Hugo Boulevard to the Maison Carrée which rivals Rome's Pantheon as the most complete and splendid building that survives from the Roman empire. Problem is the only thing on the inside of this remarkable edifice is a film. Over the many centuries the inside has numerous uses inclusive of being horses stables. Took pics of the outside.
Decide to head into the old town of narrow Middle Age streets, narrow alleys and many people. Found a wine shop and bought a red Pineau des Charentes that is impossible to locate anywhere in Canada. Wandered the streets and found a church that was over a thousand years old! At end of our walk came across more Roman ruins that were
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