Canal Du Midi to Nimes via Beziers

4/4 bad night for the girls, Jen coughing +++ and trachea burning/aching, Kel burning up and drowning the bed in sweat, woke and Jen walked (with difficulty) along the canal for a k or so, huffing away,

beautiful Canal - curves on purpose?? (except aesthetics)

slow breakfast, none for Kel, school for Wil, then away towards Beziers, lovely city with the famous 9 locks in a row:

Enigma and Goldie shot through here

into town for a wander and to pay homage to Paul Riquet who designed/drove the Canal building, only to die before it was opened

Beziers main street 

The man behind the Canal

out via the Pont Canal where the Canal crosses the River Aude

Pont Canal with BK Castle

and onto Nimes, to the tolled freeway where we made 1 bad turn and headed off in the wrong direction, no worries, the next turn is in 21km!!!  21km later we got off, paid the toll, found a functional gas outlet (serendipity!) and then turned around, got back on and paid the toll, and headed back the other way to Nimes.

Into another paid campsite to do the pile of laundry and wash bodies, Kel still ravaged with fevers having slept most of the transit, on going to bed she starts hallucinating, seeing something in Jen’s fringe that is freaking her out, hard to console, so hard even as Dr parents to see this, always wondering about bacterial nasties, sense/experience tells us no, but are we seeing it objectively or as we wish it to be?  Must be Influenza, but could it be an exotic European nasty we don’t know of?  What’s going around here?  We don’t have any media.  Should we take her to a French Dr tomorrow?  If she’s still fevering after 48 hrs, yes we will).  When will the boys get it?  Or have we some ill gotten (or vaccine gotten) immunity.

5/4 Nimes

school for Wil - maths test - 91% for fractions!!

Kel woke without fever (thank God!!!)  but nowhere near 100%

Jen hacking cough and still a bit achey.

Into town where we parked and walked to see the Arena, best kept Roman amphitheatre in Europe (or the world? Guess there are some in Africa), lots of Minis to spot, the odd Porsche to tantalize Wil’s imagination, the Amphitheatre - awesome construction. 

Roman amphitheatre/arena

Phil vs Russ

Roman block work 

to the left!  Le Grand Matador

Brilliant audioguides and displays really allowing an understanding of how the Empire leaders kept their community happy. The arenas were called ‘spectaculars’, this one cramming in some 25,000 peoples of all class & background to collectively roar and cheer for their favourite gladiator. Still used today, the entrance is guarded with a brilliantly detailed statue of Nimenos II, the Grand Matador. As we were leaving, all manner of stages and music technology was being erected for festival. A short walk through a dynamic & beautiful city, past a bountiful stereotypical French boulangerie/patisserie where slightly plump,stylishly groomed middle aged motherly women with beads and aprons served us unknown/unnamed delights onto the Maison Carres where we were entertained & educated further by a 3D film of the history of Nimes. Finally a trip past a lack lustre ‘museum’ about the father of jeans, Levi Strauss who in this town fashioned the infamous blue worker’s trousers. Home via another pharmacy meeting a spunky French pharmacist with an Aussie accent who spent her early years in Melbourne! Played ‘spotto’ for the town’s Roman crocodile crest decorating walkways,tops of traffic barriers as we made for our Eddie.