Day 37, Vic-la-Gardioe, to Vallon Pont d'Arc (166kms)

We woke to a miserable day weather-wise, after a stormy night.  When talking to the campground hosts they said that the region had been hit by severe storms and flooding in the last 24 hours, and that people had even lost their lives in the nearby city of Carcassonne.  They wanted to ensure that we were not heading into worsening weather, which we were not.  Carcassonne is to the south west and the direction we came from yesterday, so we were hopeful that the weather would improve as we headed north.  

So after borrowing tools to repair the campervan power cable - that I ran over and ripped from the side of the van, we headed north.  Our first destination was to be the UNESCO world heritage site of Pont du Gard - the first century Roman aquaduct, built to move water to the city of Nimes from natural springs some 50kms away.  Interestingly enough, it is the highest Roman aqueduct ever built, but has a gradient of only 1/10th of the average Roman aqueduct.  From start to finish, the aqueduct only falls 17m at an average gradient of 1:3,000.  In some places the gradient is only 1:20,000 and over the Pont du Gard itself, the bridge drops only 2.5cm from one side to the other.  Incredible engineering for the 1st century AD.

Disappointingly the weather was not improving, so our walk around the site was done amid intermittent rain showers.  This did not take away from the grandeur of this marvellous feat of engineering, the only disappointment being you had pay to see a natural site.  Don't remember that from 23 years ago.  Regardless, by the time we had left the site in the late afternoon, we had gotten our moneys worth as the kids loved the museums attached to the site.

As you can see in the photos, the bridge has three arched tiers to it.  The bottom tier is where pedestrians now cross the bridge - that also allows for vehicular access, while to the top of the third tier of arches is the level that the water use to cross at.  We crossed the bridge before Sierra and I found a walking path that we climbed to see/photograph the bridge from above the height of top level.

Back at the level that the water crossed the bridge, we followed the path of the aqueduct through a tunnel in the hillside and saw some of the ruins of the water course that ran toward the city of Nimes another 20kms away.

On the way out of the Pont du Gard site we stopped by the museum and here we spent as much time as we did walking around the site.  There is an amazingly well put together museum that holds the interests of adults and kids alike.  The main museum focuses on the history and technology of the Roman empire - in particular how it was used to craft the Pont du Gard.  The exhibits were wonderful to look at and utilise technology to keep everyones interest.

Then there was a interactive kids museum - of the same theme as the kids science museum in Paris.  Heaps of hands on activities and information targeted at primary school aged children.  There was one school group there when we were visiting, but our kids pretty much had free run in the place and we had to pull them away from the exhibits in the end to get back on the road.

It was then a quick and very late lunch in the van before making the couple of hour drive to the banks of the Ardèche river at Vallon Pont d'Arc.  We checked into one of the multitude of campsites right on the river, but being the off season there wasn't too many people around, or places open.  When we checked in we were also offered the option to place a bakery order for fresh bread in the morning.  Obviously we jumped at the chance.

Setup on the river bank, the rain was still not going away, but it was still nice enough to sit outside under the cover of the campervan awning to have a beer and wine.  The kids relished in the opportunity to play in the shallows of the river in front of the campsite.