© irene waters 2015T
The Romans were good at building bridges across things. The Pont du Gard (above) which was built by the Romans as part of the 50km long Nimes aqueduct to go across the Gorge of the Gardon River. It was built in the 1st century AD to carry water from Uzes to Nimes and is the highest (48.8 metres)and most well preserved of the aqueduct bridges. Probably because it was also used as a toll bridge over the river for many years after it was stopped being used for water. The precision of the engineers of Roman times is to be marvelled at as this aqueduct has a fall of only 56 feet over the 50 kms and the bridge itself has a drop of only 2.5 cms.
© irene waters 2015
This bridge is considerably older being built in mediaeval times (1177 – 11850). It go across the Rhone joining Villeneuve-les-Avignon and Avignon. A chapel was built in the middle of it. This was a costly bridge to maintain as the arches had a habit of collapsing when the Rhone flooded. It was the inspiration for the song “Sur le pont d’Avignon.”
Both these bridges which go across rivers have been World Heritage listed.
In response to Black and White Sunday
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About Irene Waters 19 Writer Memoirist
I began my working career as a reluctant potato peeler whilst waiting to commence my training as a student nurse. On completion I worked mainly in intensive care/coronary care; finishing my hospital career as clinical nurse educator in intensive care. A life changing period as a resort owner/manager on the island of Tanna in Vanuatu was followed by recovery time as a farmer at Bucca Wauka. Having discovered I was no farmer and vowing never again to own an animal bigger than myself I took on the Barrington General Store. Here we also ran a five star restaurant. Working the shop of a day 7am - 6pm followed by the restaurant until late was surprisingly more stressful than Tanna. On the sale we decided to retire and renovate our house with the help of a builder friend. Now believing we knew everything about building we set to constructing our own house. Just finished a coal mine decided to set up in our backyard. Definitely time to retire we moved to Queensland. I had been writing a manuscript for some time. In the desire to complete this I enrolled in a post grad certificate in creative Industries which I completed 2013. I followed this by doing a Master of Arts by research graduating in 2017. Now I live to write and write to live.
There is a 2,000 year old olive tree beneath the Pont du Gard which has our footprints under it.
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Wow. Impressive that the olive tree is that old and that your footprints are there.
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Not actual footprints! Just shadow ones. Someone took our picture standing beneath it. I was impressed.
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LOL. Wonderful memories. 🙂
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Love when historical things are photographed in black and white. These two I’ve always wanted to see in person.
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We had no great desire. We tend to avoid tourist places but we had my Mum with us and she wanted us to see what she considered the musts of France. I’ll admit I was pleased to see the aquaduct but Avignon was too busy for our liking and we would have preferred to avoid the place. After Avignon we took Mum places she had never been (and possibly would have preferred not to have been) but we discovered some superb countryside that I’ll never forget. You’ll have to plan a trip Noelle. Research for a novel…….
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Great photos and info.
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Did you travel much in Europe when you lived in Austria?
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Thank you for this, Irene. Though I have been to Provence a couple of times before (even for months) I was never shown Pont du Gard before. What a wonderful entry 🙂
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Thanks Paula. Not only is it a good place from a historical viewpoint but a wonderful place to have fun on the river.
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Amazing historic bridges! Roman architecture does boggle the mind. Did you actually get to play in the river at Pont du Gard?
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There were certainly lots of people in kayaks but we were there just as winter broke to spring and the water was freezing so we resisted playing.
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