Long weekend in Languedoc

Holiday Ratings
Recommended days	3
Budget	£
Difficulty	Easy

This was another impulse break, based on cheap Easyjet flights and cheap car hire from Europcar! The south of France is steeped in history and this was a gorgeous long weekend in Languedoc, an hour after landing and driving along the A8 from Nice I felt totally refreshed.

Nimes

Our first stay, Nimes, was about a 3 hour drive from the airport. We stayed at the Holiday Inn here because I had loyalty points so the rooms were free, a real bargain break! We left the car at the hotel and took the bus into town ready for all the history the place had to offer.

There were certainly many things to see here, the main attractions for us being the Roman remains – the amphitheatre, defence tower and temples.

The town was lovely to walk around with a nice shaded park and some very pretty streets and we were able to see everything at a leisurely pace and fit lunch in too without being shattered from a route march instagram tour. The attractions were well signposted and the tourist areas were cleaned and well maintained. One thing I do love about practically everywhere other than the UK is the reassuringly visible police presence.

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Pont du Gard

The second day we didn’t really have any plans other than the monumental Roman aqueduct of Pont du Gard. We considered Avignon but that would have meant another day with lots of walking as there’s lots to see in the Papal city and I’d like to visit there as a dedicated break.

Next on the list was Aigues Morte – the medieval port city that saw crusaders depart from its river delta before silting up and losing importance to Marseille. The salt marshes and lagoons are still a tourist attraction here with flamingoes visible at certain times of the year.

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As you can see, Pont du Gard is a monumentally impressive creation. It is also a massive tourist attraction with a huge car park and plenty of coach trips that visit. We spent a few hours walking across it and then down one side so we could walk up and down the riverbank too. Phenomenal.

Aigues Mortes

When we reached Aiges Mortes we were able to park right by the city walls. These are intact and still surround the old town so the first thing we did was a walk of the ramparts and towers. This was fortuitous as there was a festival that we could watch from the ramparts, not bull fighting but the bulls had ribbons tied to their horns and people were darting in to try and grab them. Utter chaos but great fun to watch. The festival was called Fetes Votives and seemed to include a car procession from Mad Max too!

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On our final day of our long weekend in Languedoc we went to Beaucaire by mistake – we were meant to be in Tarascon on the opposite bank of the Rhone but it was pretty close! The castle was closed on a Sunday but it was a nice amble around the town and then a long drive to Nice. We had a lovely walk along the marina before have dinner on our balcony, watching the sun set. A lovely end to our penultimate break of 2013!

Beaucaire

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2013