7½ m. south from Pont-St. Esprit is Bagnols-sur-Cèze, pop. 5000. H. du Louvre. Omnibus at station. A manufacturing town. Coach to Uzès, 17 m. W.
LYONS
NÎMES
132½
39½
LAUDUN, pop. 2200, about 2½
m. west from the station, and 10 m. from Orange, is built on a hill
350 ft. high. The vineyards in the neighbourhood produce a good white
wine. Junction with branch to Alais, 35½ m. west, by Connaux, St.
Pons, Cavillargues, Seyne, Celas, and Mejannes; small and uninteresting
towns (see map, p. 26).
Roquemaure. Pont-d’Avignon.
LYONS
NÎMES
137½
34½
ROQUEMAURE, pop.
3100. Inns: H. du Nord; H. du Midi. Omnibus at station.
Situated on the small branch of the Rhône which encircles the island of
Mémar, 1¼ m. long. The best part of this curious old town is in the
neighbourhood of the Hôtel du Midi, where are the public promenade with
large trees, the great embankment to protect the town from the invasions
of the Rhône, and the ruins of the old castle, of which the most
remarkable part is the square tower perched on the point of a great
rock. Orchards, vineyards, and mulberry groves surround the village.
Roquemaure, however, like all the other small towns on the Rhône, has a
dingy and untidy appearance. Clement V., first Pope of Avignon,
died here in 1314. 5 m. W. is Taval, pop. 2200, where a good wine
is made.
LYONS
NÎMES
144¾
27¼
PONT-D’AVIGNON,
station on the west side of the Rhône for Avignon (p. 63). Omnibuses from the hotels await
passengers. The omnibus between Avignon and Villeneuve passes the
station every hour. Tram every ¼ between the station and Avignon.
7 m. S. from the Pont-d’Avignon is Aramon, pop. 2800, on the Rhône, at a considerable distance from its station. 3¾ m. farther is Thezièrs, pop. 650, with the church of St. Amans, 11th cent., and the ruins of a castle. (Map, page 66.)
LYONS
NÎMES
159¾
12¼
REMOULINS, pop. 1400,
with ruins of a castle. From Remoulins branch to Uzès, 12½ m. N.W.
On this line, 3¼ m. from Remoulins and 9¼ from Uzès, is
Pont-du-Gard station, on an eminence, whence walk down to the bridge.
(For description and directions see pp. 64 and 104, and map page 66.)
Uzès.
UZÈS, pop. 5600, Inn Bechard: on an eminence surrounded by picturesque calcareous rocks. From the inn walk past the church St. Etienne, then turn to the left, and having gone down the avenue ascend the double stair leading up to the beautiful terrace, on which, to the left, stands the Cathedral, and to the right, projecting from the balustrade, the little house with about 9 yards of frontage, in which Racine resided with his uncle, a canon of the cathedral. Below, in the deep narrow valley, is the stream Eure, which once supplied the Roman aqueduct at Nîmes. At the S.W. corner of the church rises from a square basement a circular campanile, 12th cent., in six stages, of which five are composed of eight blind round arches, each pierced by twin open arches resting on an impost column. On the top is a low tiled roof, partly hidden by an embrasure-like parapet. On the north side of the church is the bishop’s palace, now the Sous-Préfecture, and the seat of the tribunal. Looking from the top of the stairs towards the town the most prominent objects are the large dungeon-tower of the castle, with turrets on three of the corners; the Tour Carrée de l’Horloge, surmounted by an iron grating and a bell; and the Tour de Prison. The octagonal tower, crowned with an image of the Virgin, rises from the École des Frères, and the low square tower from the church of St. Etienne. At the other end of the promenade is the bronze statue by Duret of Admiral Comte de Brueys, né à Uzès le 11 Fevrier 1753. Mort à Aboukir (battle of the Nile) le 2 Aout 1798. Now walk up the street to the Marché au Blé, with a pretty bronze fountain opposite the Mairie and Post Office. Behind the Mairie is the entrance to the castle called Le Duché, which has for centuries belonged to the family of Crussol, Ducs d’Uzès. Fee for a party 1 fr. On entering, to the right is the Tour de la Chapelle, 13th cent., restored; to the left, the dungeon tower, 11th cent., ascended by 248 steps, commanding an extensive prospect; and in front the façade, 16th cent., by P. Delorme. The ground-floor of the “Tour de la Chapelle” contains the family vaults. Over the tombs is a large crucifix made in England; the figure is of bronze and the cross of copper. Above is the chapel. Of the house the best part is the stair, vaulted throughout and covered with sculptured stone panels. The best wines in the department are grown in the neighbourhood of Uzès. Besides the railway, Uzès is connected by a good diligence with Bagnols, 17 m. E. on the railway of the west side of the Rhône, 19 m. N. from the Pont d’Avignon, and 7½ m. S. from Pont-St. Esprit.
Sernhac-Lédenon.
After Remoulins the train halts at the station Sernhac-Lédenon. Lédenon, pop. 700, is about 2 m. W. from the station, and Sernhac, pop. 1200, about the same distance E. 7 m. from Nîmes is the St. Gervasy-Bezouce station, and 2½ m. nearer, Marguerittes, pop. 2000, with a handsome modern church, and in the cemetery the ruins of the chapel of St. Gilles, 12th cent., seen from railway.
172 m. S.W. from Lyons, 27½ m. S.W. from Avignon, 31 m. N.E. from Montpellier by Gallargues, 17 m. W. from Tarascon, 80 m. N.W. from Marseilles, and 450 m. S.E. from Paris by Clermont-Ferrand, is
population 64,000, on the Vistre, 150 feet above the sea. A flight of steps as at Tarascon leads from the town up to the station. At the foot of these steps is the Hôtel des Arts, pretty comfortable room 2 frs., dinner with wine 3 frs. The trams start from in front of the house. In the town are: On the Esplanade, the H. Luxembourg, the most expensive. By the side of it, fronting a garden, the H. du Midi or Durand, from 9 to 12 frs. Fronting the amphitheatre the Cheval Blanc, commercial, 8 to 10 frs. Opposite the Maison Carrée, the H. Manivet, 9 to 12 frs., the most conveniently situated for visiting the sights. Their omnibuses await passengers at the foot of the station stair. Post Office, No. 4 B. du Grand Cours, between St. Baudine and the Public Gardens. Telegraph Office in the Place de la Salamandre, a small “Place” off the B. des Calquières. Temple Protestant, the Porte d’Auguste, and the handsome new church of St. Baudine, with its two elegant spires, are at the north end of the B. des Calquières, beyond the Esplanade.
Sights.—The Amphitheatre, the Maison Carrée, and the Roman Baths. Cab Stands are found at the station, at the Amphitheatre, and at the Maison Carrée. Cab carrying 4, 2 frs. per hour.
A straight, wide, and handsome avenue extends from the station to the Esplanade; having in the centre a large fountain with four marble colossal statues by Pradier round the base, representing the Rhône, the Gardon, and the fountain nymphs of Nemausa and Ura. On the top of the pedestal is a larger statue, also by Pradier, representing Nîmes, with its face towards the station. Behind it are the Palais de Justice and the Amphitheatre, and to the left the church of St. Perpetua.
Nîmes: Amphitheatre.
The great sight in Nîmes is the Roman Amphitheatre, the most perfect extant. In form it is elliptical, of which the great axis measures 437 ft., and the lesser 433 ft., and the height 70 ft. Around the building are two tiers of arcades, each tier having 60 arches, and all the arches being separated from each other by a Roman Doric column. Above runs an attic, from which project the consoles on which the beams that sustained the awning rested. Within each arcade, on the ground-floor and on the upper story, runs a corridor round the building, the upper one being roofed with stone slabs 18 ft. long, reaching from side to side. There were four entrances, one facing each of the cardinal points of the compass. The interior contained 32 rows of seats in 4 zones, capable of accommodating from 18,000 to 20,000 spectators. The lowest zone corresponded to the dress circle, the others to the galleries. The present entrance is from the western side, fee 50 c., opposite No. 8 Place des Arènes. The stair that leads up to the top is under the fifth arch west. No description can express the sensation experienced from contemplating this vast Roman structure from the highest tier or from the edge of the outside wall. At the same time it must be remembered that there are no railings, and that an inadvertent step might have serious consequences. The date of the building is uncertain. Titus, Adrian, and Antoninus Pius have each been conjectured to have been the founder. The Visigoths converted it into a fortress, the Castrum Arenarum, occupied by the Saracens at the beginning of the 8th cent., till driven from France by the armies Charles of Martel; died in 715.
On the N. side of the amphitheatre is the Boulevard St. Antoine, with, on the left hand or W. side, the Palais des Beaux Arts, including the Public Library, containing 60,000 vols.; the Archæological Museum, containing many interesting articles, chiefly Roman, found in the neighbourhood; and the Picture Gallery, containing, among other pictures, a Magdalene by Guido; A Holy Family, a Head of John the Baptist, and a portrait of himself, by Titian; A Head of a Girl and a Return from Hunting, by Rubens; Portraits of Vanloo and of his mother, by himself; Cromwell regarding Charles I. laid out in his coffin, by Paul Delaroche, his chef d’œuvre; “Nero and a Sorceress experimenting on a slave with the poison they were preparing for Britannicus,” by Javier Sigalon; An old woman, by Greuze; also works by Gérard Dow, Claude Lorrain, Metzu, Ostade, Paul Potter, Ruysdael, Van den Welde, and Wouvermans.
At the N. end of this Boulevard is the church of St. Paul, with frescoes on gold and blue grounds by H. and P. Flandrin.
Nîmes: La Maison Carrée. Cathedral.
Beyond are the Theatre and the Bourse, and opposite them La Maison Carrée, a beautiful specimen of a Roman temple, probably part of the Forum, with which it was connected by colonnades extending east and west. It is 75 ft. long, 39 wide, and 39 high, and is supposed to have been erected in the time of Antoninus Pius. It stands on a platform, and is encompassed by a quadrilateral peristyle of 30 Roman-Corinthian columns surmounted by a plain architrave, scroll frieze, sculptured dentils, and a fluted cornice. All the columns are attached, excepting the ten which support the pediment. In the area within the railing are mutilated statues and fragments of Roman columns.
Eastward, in the centre of the old town, is the Cathedral St. Castor, built in the 11th cent., but nearly rebuilt in subsequent times. The most venerable portion is the façade, constructed of large blocks of stone. A delicately-cut frieze, representing scenes from Genesis, extends under the roof. The eaves of the pediment are supported by brackets with acanthus leaves. The table of the third altar, right hand, in the interior, is sculptured in much the same style as the exterior frieze.
Nîmes: Roman Baths. Tourmagne. Fort.
N.W. from the Maison Carrée is the Public Garden, adorned with vases and statues among shrubs and flowers, overshadowed by tall elm and plane trees. To the left are the remains of a temple or fane (called the temple of Diana), dedicated to the Nymphs, built B.C. 24, of huge carefully-hewn blocks of sandstone, and reduced to its present state in 1577. The little of the ornamental work that remains is very much mutilated. Opposite the temple, protected from the troublesome winds of Nîmes, are the Roman Baths, about 12 ft. below the level of the gardens, the vaulting being supported on small columns, over which rise open stone balustrades. Adjoining is the copious spring that supplies them, as placid but somewhat larger than the Fontaine of Vaucluse (p. 65).
From the fountain a road leads up the wooded slopes of Mont Cavalier to an octagonal structure called the Tourmagne, 90 ft. high, erected before the Roman invasion, and supposed to have been a tomb. It was originally filled with rubble, which was excavated in the 16th cent. in search of treasure. The winding staircase of 140 steps was added in 1843. The view from the top is extensive. Fee, 30 cents.
Eastward from the Tourmagne is the Fort, built by Louis XIV., now the town prison. On the western side of the fort are the remains of the reservoir, castellum divisorium, which received the water brought by the canal from the aqueduct of the Pont-du-Gard. This canal still brings water to the town reservoir, on the opposite or east side of the fort.
In the year of Rome 788 a strong wall was built round Nîmes, 7 ft. high, pierced with 10 gates; of which there still remain two; the Porte d’Auguste, originally fronting the road to Rome, now at the E. end of the Temple Protestant, and the Porte de France at the extremity of the Rue Carrètérie. (See plan.)
The ancient name of Nîmes is Nemausus, one of the cities of Gallia Narbonensis, and the capital of the Volcæ Arecomici. As early as the reign of Augustus it was a “colonia,” and possessed in the days of Strabo the “Jus Latii,” and therefore was independent of the Roman governors. Its most notable product then was cheese, which was exported to Rome; now it is raw silk, for which it is the principal emporium in the south of France. The wines of Nîmes are in repute in Paris, particularly the Costière and the St. Gilles, called also Vin de Remède. Both deteriorate after the sixth year in bottle. Nicot, who introduced tobacco into France, and Guizot, the minister of Louis Philippe, were born at Nîmes.
Pont-du-Gard.
13½ miles from Nîmes is the Pont-du-Gard, built by the Romans in the reign of Augustus as part of the aqueduct, 25 m. long, which, from the neighbourhood of Uzès (page 99), brought the waters of the Eure and Airan to the reservoir beside the fort, of which only vestiges now remain. This “Pont,” which spans the valley or banks of the river Gardon, consists of three rows of arches, whose total height above the bed of the river is 156 ft. The two lower stories are formed of hewn stones, placed together without the aid of any cement; but the mason work underneath the channel of the third or top story is of rough stones cemented, by which all filtration was prevented. The first or lowest row consists of six arches, with a span of 60 ft. each, except the largest, which has 75 ft. The second row consists of eleven arches of the same dimensions as the first, and the third of 35 arches of 15 ft. span. A stair from the right bank of the river leads up to the watercourse above the topmost tier of arches. In the striking boldness of its design this bridge exhibits a decided improvement and superiority over all the other Roman aqueducts. The arches are wider, and the piers in proportion lighter, and had the same principle been extended so as to have formed it of one single row from top to bottom, it would have equalled in the skill and disposition of its materials the more judicious and more elegant structures of modern times (see Roquefavour, p. 77). Take ticket to Pont-du-Gard Station. But if with luggage, and on the way to Avignon, take ticket to Remoulins, where leave the luggage, and take another ticket to the Pont-du-Gard, which having visited, walk back to Remoulins station, where take ticket for Pont Avignon (see under Avignon, p. 64).
79 m. S.E. from Nîmes by rail is Marseilles (p. 111), passing Tarascon, 17 m. (p. 66), and Arles, 25 m. (p. 68).
Valleraugue.
See Map, p. 26.
58 m. N.W. by rail from Nîmes is Vigan, whence coach 43 m. W., 9 hrs., to Millau, on the line to Paris by Rodez. There are no towns of importance on this line, though some parts, especially towards Vigan, are very picturesque. 27 m. from Vigan, and 31 from Nîmes, is Quissac, pop. 1800, junction with line to Lezan, 9 m. N., and thence 4½ m. E. to Mas des Gard, on the Nîmes and Alais line. 9 m. W. from Lezan is St. Hippolyte-Le-Fort, pop. 4500, on the sluggish Vidourle. From this the line goes westward by La Cadière to Ganges, 9½ m. from Vigan, on the Hérault, 595 ft. above the sea, pop. 5000, H. Croix Blanche, omnibus at station. The most pleasant town on the line. 2½ m. farther is Jumène, 682 ft. above the sea, pop. 3000, with coal and iron mines. 4 m. from Vigan, at Le Pont, 666 ft. above the sea, the line crosses the Hérault, and entering the picturesque valley of the Arre follows the course of that river to Vigan, pop. 6000. Inns: Voyageurs; Cheval Blanc; both in the “Place,” near the statue of the Chevalier d’Assas, born at Vigan in 1733, and “Mort glorieusement à Clastercamp à 27 ans.” Vigan on the Arre, an affluent of the Hérault, is 860 ft. above the sea, in a hollow between steep mountains, with terraces of vineyards, olive, mulberry, fig, and chestnut trees to nearly their summits. The town consists of narrow, crooked, badly-paved streets. The hospital was founded in 1190. In the promenade near the post office are some old chestnut trees, disfigured with knots. In the neighbourhood are several coal-pits, worked, however, with difficulty, on account of the water they contain. Nearly a mile westward is the Fontaine Isis, the source of the water-supply of the town. Beside it are the cold sulphureous springs of Cauvalat.
Valleraugue.
Coach daily to Valleraugue, Inn: Aresque, 14 m. N., in a very picturesque region, on the Hérault, in a deep wooded valley between the Aigoual mountains towards the N., and the Espéron mountains towards the S. The principal source of the Hérault is a little higher, towards the W., at Séreyrède. From Valleraugue the ascent is made in about 2½ hours of Mt. Aulas, 4665 ft. above the sea, the culminating point of the Espéron, commanding a magnificent view. The source of the Dourbie is just a little to the S. of Valleraugue, and of the Tarn to the N., but on the other side of the Aigoual. Excellent fishing, botanising, and geologising in this neighbourhood.
Larzac.
Le Vigan to Millau, 43 m. W. by diligence, 9 hrs. The first village the coach passes is Molières, on a hill above the road, with coal-mines. From this the road ascends to the villages of Esparron, 5½ m., and Arre, 6¼ m., from Vigan. A little higher up the coach leaves by a tunnel the valley of the Arre, and enters that of the Vis, with the village Alzon, 12½ m. from Vigan, pop. 900. Inn: the Souterraine, the best on the road. After a pretty steep ascent of 7 m. the coach arrives at Sauclières, pop. 2200, Inn: H. du Nord, producing excellent pork, cheese, and potatoes. The coach from this ascends the southern side of the Lenglas mountains, covered with vineyards, olive and mulberry trees, and farther up forests of chestnut trees. From the other side of the ridge it descends to the valley of the Dourbie, in which is St. Jean du Bruel, pop. 2000, Inn: Commerce, 23 m. from Vigan and 20 from Millau. The coach having traversed the valley of the Dourbie, full of chestnut trees, reaches Nant, pop. 2000, a poor village, on an eminence, 16 m. from Millau. Shortly afterwards the diligence crosses the monotonous tableland of Larzac, 2790 ft. above the sea, and arrives at the village of La Cavalerie, with some small dolmens. 7 m. W. is Millau, on the line to Paris by Rodez.