7 June 2016. There is no question the ancient Romans were talented engineers. The Colosseum in Roma is still standing after almost 2000 years while the courthouse in Salem, Oregon, was condemned after 10 years due to construction problems.
Me at the amazing Pont du Gard. Still standing after 2000 years.
At Avignon there are two famous bridges: The Pont du Gard and the Pont Saint-Bénézet. The Pont du Gard is as old as the Colosseum (1st century A.D.) and still standing, but the Pont Saint-Bénézet (aka Pont d’Avignon), built between 1177 and 1185, was abandoned in the mid 17th century as they could not keep the arches from collapsing when the Rhône River flooded. Today the four surviving arches on the bank of the Rhône are believed to have been built in around 1345 and are all that remain. It is a bridge to nowhere.
The bridge to nowhere, that is the “Pont du Avignon.”
Roman engineering triumphs, but not necessarily the Romans of today. Overall it seems to us that maintenance is not a priority. Italians wait until something is broken to fix it.
We’ve stopped in Antibes and Avignon visiting Nice and Arles while in the vicinity, followed by a few chilly days in Chamonix during which Mont Blanc refused to reveal itself. We navigated through the French train strike with minor inconveniences and we ate our share of baguettes and too much cheese. We had a fabulous pizza in Antibes, of all places, and a terrible one — one of the worst ever — in Chamonix. (I’ll blog about this one shortly at Our Weekly Pizza.)
Following are a few travel photos with captions for those inclined to click through the slideshow.
A presto!
This woman must be an Italian. I was wearing hiking boots as we trod up to the top of the Pont du Gard for the view.
Pont du Gard. This view was well worth the trudge uphill.
Mural in the hallway of our hotel, Hotel Le Colbert, Avignon. One of the best we’ve stayed in.
The very colorful Le Colbert.
Artwork everywhere at Le Colbert.
Hotel Le Colbert breakfast room. Patrice served an exceptional breakfast.
Morning light, Avignon. One of our favorite things to do is wander in a town early, as it is waking up.
Saw this little guy on a wall beside the trail at Pont du Gard.
We found many of these painted “windows” on facades throughout Avignon.
Avignon bicycle.
Antibes beach walk, featuring copies of paintings by famous impressionists with the view the artisit portrayed.
View from our apartment, Port Vauban, Antibes.
“Nomad” from the collection at the Picasso Museum, Antibes.
I loved this view at the Picasso Museum, Antibes.
The lovely curve of the beach at Nice.
What a French train station looks like early in the morning when there is a strike. A couple of our trains were cancelled.
Hiking Cap d’Antibes. Lovely trail here belied what was to come.
The Cap d’Antibes trail became quite rugged in parts, lots of stairs, and some tricky footing.
Terrific restaurant in Antibes. We had a little cat keep us company. I love that in Europe!
No doubt an Arab-owned yacht, powering past Antibes as she steamed toward Nice.
Flower market, Nice.
Contented customer, Antibes.
In Arles we followed the Vincent Van Gogh trail, where copies of his paintings are placed in the location he painted.
A Van Gogh painting of the courtyard of the hospital he stayed at in Arles, today’s Espace Van Gogh.
The courtyard as it looks today. Few differences.
Guard cat, Pont du Gard.
I thought Ric looked every inch the Frenchman sitting in this Avignon cafe.
Girovaga 
What a wonderful trip this way. I love the slide show. I am seeing and learning so much from your blogs. Thank you for taking the time to share all the wonderful things your are seeing and experiencing.
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Thank you dear Carolyn! We take hundreds of pictures and I just have to so something with some of them! Happy to share!
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Lovely post, Laurel. I have always loved Van Gogh’s View of the courtyard at the hospital at Arles. For some reason I can look at the composition for a long time – let it lead my eye up and down the pillars, into the hidden halls, etc. I realize that he, too, probably stared at that view for a long time.
Have never made it to Avignon, alas, but it is on the list. Thanks for sharing. The hotel looks really nice.
Gayle
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Grazie, Cara Gayle! We loved seeing where he had painted. I do hope you can get to Avignon. So much there in the south of France! So much we’ve seen in famous paintings by so many artists. The Picasso Museum in Antibes was very sweet: small and approachable.
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Can there be such a thing as “too much cheese”…….especially French cheese?????
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After six mornings of baguette and cheese (plus some yogurt and muesli now-and-then) I was feeling like a fruit cup was in order. Or maybe peanut butter on whole grain toast. If I lived in France I would look like the Michelin Man.
On the other hand, we are in Switzerland and feel like we can barely afford to eat. Last night at a Mexican place, they wanted 10.00CHF for chips and salsa, which last-I-knew were free in Stati Uniti! Two Mexican dinners, 4 glasses of local wine, 103.00 CHF. Ugh! Still getting good cheese at breakfast though. 🙂 But no baguette. 😦
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That woman wearing heels while ‘hiking’… I would break my ankle for sure. Nice does look beautiful as does that HUGE yacht. Nice little boat😎. Yes the early Romans certainly did build it to last something marketing does not allow anymore because they want to come out with a ‘new and improved ‘ version after a few years.👀
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I may start a series of pictures of inappropriate footwear. Yesterday on a mountain I saw a Japanese woman in blue kitten heels. Ha!
“New and improved” should not mean it has to fall down in 10 years….or even 100. Shudder to think of the lack of home maintenance. When you come visit we’ll tell you our stories. Glad we are renting here!
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