Orange & the Pont du Gard

 I had so many plans for our time in the south of France...only to realize that we weren't really going to be in the south of France.  We were merely passing through.  And worse, doing so on the autoroute, with its ever-present toll stations and fields of graffiti in lieu of lavender.  Yes, friends, graffiti graces virtually every Provencal building within view of the highway.  The sad truth.  


With so little time, I came to accept (I'm lying...I still haven't accepted it) that all the wonderful sites I'd had in mind would remain distant dreams for now.  But one stop was still a priority, and that was the Pont du Gard.  I refused to come that close without seeing it in person.  First, though, we found ourselves in Orange for the evening, where we viewed the Roman theater.

 Truth be told, like Orange itself, the theater didn't quite live up to my expectations.   Because the hour was late, we didn't pay for actual admission, which no doubt would have made a difference.  But regardless, it didn't make the impression I'd expected.  A sight to behold, without question, but not on my top ten Roman ruins list (if indeed I had such a list).  Still, it was worth it to walk up a hill, view it from above, and listen to an opera rehearsal that confirmed the incredible acoustics of this ancient monument.  

For reasons I can't quite identify, we found Orange lacking in charm and personality.  Perhaps our timing and the ridiculous heat played a role.  As sometimes happens on road trips, though, we realized that like it or not, it really did make the most sense for us to stay for the night.  Hungry and homeless, we ate a lackluster meal ("Look, Ma!  I traveled all the way to Provence to eat "California mayonnaise" with unremarkable food!") and spent an awkward night in the annex portion of the Best Western.  It's a scary place there, that annex, and I have photos to prove it.  In the interests of my readers, however, I won't share them here.

 The next morning it was only a short drive to reach the well-preserved, 1st century aqueduct.  And this, I can say, did not disappoint.  On the contrary, it went above and beyond.  Pictures can't capture the massive solidity of this structure.  

After meandering the aqueduct itself, we had to test the waters below.

 This is not a staged photo.  Apparently he has a future as a tour guide.

 Wading wasn't sufficient.  Actually diving and jumping and swimming right below the Pont du Gard was too hard to resist.

 So we whiled away several hours here and once again, I had to pry myself away.  The heat.  The brilliant blue sky.  Content children (all at once!).  I lacked but a bottle of wine and time.  But eventually, we returned to our oven ~ er, vehicle ~ and drove on, as Spain awaited.