I stayed in the Royal Hotel in the centre of Nimes. It’s undergoing some renovations but it’s fantastic and quite reasonable. With only a short ride today to Arles, I had some time to visit the Roman Arena.
It’s better preserved than the Colosseum because the locals here didn’t mine the stone over many years like the Italians did (apparently). There’s plenty of work being done on it but it’s a seriously impressive building.
So, I went in, bought a ticket, downloaded the audio guide, and got going. The audio guide was hopeless. I’m interested in the history, the construction etc, but the audio guide laboriously told stories of fictitious characters. As well, probably due to the work, the suggested path through the place, didn’t exist. You had to be lucky to follow it. But I loved it. It’s simply amazing to see buildings of this age still standing and being restored.
On the way back to the hotel, I walked around the Roman Temple, Maison Carrée . It’s super impressive too, well restored and well used by the locals.
As far as the ride goes, mmm, let’s say it was an unimpressive ride between two beautiful towns. Glad it wasn’t far 😁
I arrived in Arles and had a late lunch at a small cafe, took it easy, then went to my accommodation. On the way, I saw that the place has some great Roman ruins and history, so I left my bike and gear and headed into the centre.
It’s fantastic. It’s a wanderable town better than any I’ve visited (in terms of wanderability). I can see why Van Gogh spent so much time here.
