Destination: Nîmes, France

Despite its small size, Nîmes is a southern French city that’s absolutely steeped in history. It’s been dubbed the “French Rome,” as it’s home to a notable Roman-styled arena and the small temple Maison Carrée. Another fun fact is that denim originated in Nîmes, as its etymology de Nîmes (“from Nîmes”) soon became the word “denim.” Incredible to believe that such a small city has so much history and character!

I would be spending four nights in Nîmes, using it as a base for day trips to other cities in the south of France. At first, I really struggled to find accommodation while in town: I knew a fellow assistante whom I’d met in Brussels who lived in Nîmes, but unfortunately, she couldn’t host me until my last night in town. That meant I had to scramble to find accommodation elsewhere: many Couchsurfers were unable to host me, which meant that I had to look into paid accommodation, e.g. hostels, since hotels were out of my budget.

…and thus began my *wild* week of accommodation hopping throughout Nîmes. I first opted to stay a night at an auberge de jeunesse, which was way out of the city center (about 40 minutes on-foot uphill), which proved to be perhaps one of the worst places I’ve stayed at: the location was inconvenient, reception was closed when I arrived in the late afternoon, and my room had no heating (as the hostel shut it off come March). Wifi was also “down” when I was there, which made it impossible to look up and book the rest of my travels– if it weren’t for the *spotty* hot-spot I had with my French phone provider (thanks, Free Mobile), I wouldn’t have gone to the other cities in southern France as I’d planned to.

After a miserable one night, it was by some miracle that a Couchsurfer had reached out to me and accepted my request for a two-night stay with him. Even though I’d originally paid for three nights at the auberge, there was no way I was going to stay another night in that awful place. With that said, I canceled the last two nights at the hostel (never got my refund back, but at this point, it doesn’t matter) and headed to my host’s flat, conveniently in the city center. I stayed two nights with him and his girlfriend, who were incredibly-welcoming people; they even introduced me to brandade de morue, a regional dish that consists of salted cod and olive oil mashed together– I enjoyed it!

My last night was with the assistante, who took me out in town for the nightlife. I met other assistant.e.s from the region, and we had some conversations over some wine at one of the bars in the center. Nothing too crazy happened, and we were back at her house before midnight.

Looking back, it’s incredible to believe that, despite switching accommodations every few days in Nîmes, I still managed to sight-see a lot not only in town, but also in the other cities nearby. Granted, much of it required lugging my travel bags around, and although I wouldn’t ever want to repeat it again, I was glad things sorted themselves out in the end (and for the better!).

At least in Nîmes, I saw the main sites of town, including the arènes de Nîmes, la maison Carrée, and le jardin de la Fontaine (including la fontaine Pradier, dedicated to the Swiss sculptor himself). I didn’t see everything that there was to see in the city, but I did hit the hot-spots. Nîmes itself is so small that I’m sure that one can easily cover everything within a day.

Aside from Nîmes, I also took day trips to nearby places, including Arles and Avignon. I also got the chance to catch the bus over to le Pont du Gard, the largest Roman aqueduct in the country and the best-preserved. It’s a UNESCO World Heritage site, and it’s a popular tourist spot. I hadn’t known that it was that famous before I went, but now that I know, I’m glad that I did.

Weather wasn’t on my side when I arrived at le Pont du Gard. It even rained as I made my way to the site itself. All the same, however, I still found it quite impressive: amid the March rainy gloom, the three-tiered Roman aqueduct was a site to behold. I can imagine that it’s even more beautiful in warmer, sunnier weather! It’d be nice to return some day, perhaps in the summer.

My time in Nîmes had been quite the wild ride, due to the stress of finding accommodation night after night– in fact, it was more of an adventure with finding accommodation than the actual sightseeing itself! Again, however, it turned out all right in the end, and I still managed to see so much in town and elsewhere, all the while meeting some lovely people in the process (except for that hostel receptionist…never again!). Nîmes itself isn’t worth a four-night stay, in my honest opinion, but as a base, it’s not a bad idea…just be sure you have secured accommodation beforehand!

More coming up on my southern France trip!

 

— Rebecca