April 7, 2014:  Nimes

Today we made our first foray into Nimes (pop. 128,000) which is only a few minutes from our village of Caissagues.  The city's history stretches back more than two millennia.  It was founded as a colony by Augustus Caesar and straddled an important overland trade route to Spain, the Via Domitiana.  Army veterans from the legions that conquered Egypt were given land here when they retired -- hence the city's symbol to this day, a crocodile (Egypt) chained to a palm tree.  There are many important Roman remains here, including the temple known as the Maison Carre (Square House), said to be the best preserved Roman temple in the world, and a huge coliseum (1st-2nd century CE), a twin of the one in Rome but much better preserved -- so much so that the film "Gladiator" with Russell Crowe was filmed here. (They also make delicious crepes.)
Here is a link to a little picture album -- more to come!