We left Carcassonne and traveled east to Provence. The further south we travelled in France, the more “flexible” drivers were with the rules of the road. It took 2 of us to drive- one at the wheel, obviously,and one on full-time navigation duty. We also noticed that our Peugeot’s GPS system ( nicknamed Mathilde) hadn’t been completely, accurately updated for the south of France. Sometimes, the navigator had to override Mathilde, as well as always being ready with coins for the countless tolls on the autoroutes.
On our way to Cavaillon, we stopped in the town of Pezenas. Another fantastic surprise!!! The old town was filled with artisan shops and galleries, and we spent several happy hours wandering. On the way out of town, we saw warehouse after warehouse of antique & brocante stores. It’s a good thing we can only bring along 1 suitcase each, or it would’ve been very tempting to stop and browse the antique stalls as we used to do on weekends in Helsinki before we had kids.
We selected our Airbnb on Cavaillon based on our usual criteria, but also based on it’s location and the numerous positive reviews it had had. While sewage odour was mentioned in a review 2 tenants before us , the same person said,” Just plug the drain of the shower and it ( the sewage odour) becomes imperceptible.” That’s WAY understating reality!!! Our Airbnb in Cavaillon constantly smelled of raw sewage, no matter what we did ( keeping windows open, & keeping all drains plugged with water at all times). To add to our Cavaillon Airbnb experience, we also had a fresh infestation of ants in both bedrooms and in the bathroom.
Leaving our Cavaillon Airbnb to explore our area was a pleasure. And what adventures there are in that part of France! We did persuade the kids to accompany us to a fantastic Sunday brocante/ marché aux puces ( flea market, antique and vintage stores) in Isle-sur-la-Sorgue, and bought 3 vintage, indigo linen and lace pillowcases.
The next adventure was a visit to another amazing UNESCO heritage site: the Pont du Gard, near Nîmes. The Pont du Gard is an intact aqueduct that dates back nearly 2000 years when the area was like a retirement village for wealthy Romans.
We chose the option of a short guided tour of the museum before being led across and INSIDE the aqueduct. While our guide did an excellent job of the explaining the Roman retirement village for which the aqueduct was constructed, we all remember the sidebar discussion about Roman communal toilet use the best.
We learned that going to the toilet was a social experience in Roman times. There were no individual stalls. Rather, neighbours would happily catch up on each others’ news as they sat on their respective toilet holes. Since the retirement village was one for wealthy, older Romans, the retirees would all benefit from a whole group of toilet slaves. There were slaves whose job it was to sit and pre-warm the (naturally cool) marble toilet hole area. Other slaves rinsed out the toilet ‘brushes’ that were passed openly from one person to another to wipe. ( Can you IMAGINE???!! No germaphobes there!) Other slaves were there to clean the facilities after users.
It was a desirable job, if one was a slave, to work in the communal toilets because it wasn’t a particularly physically taxing job. The communal toilet cleaning job would be made easier due to the never-ending flow of fresh water, brought by the aqueduct. One last point linked with the fresh, never ending flow of water: all of the luxurious villas had flowing water, flowing right through them. They all could have had toilets at home, but they preferred to use the toilet all together because they valued the social connections this communal activity provided.
After the inside explanation, we had the opportunity to join our guide and walk through the actual aqueduct. She explained that, surprisingly, this was the longest aqueduct ever constructed by the Romans. The fact that it is still perfectly intact, 2000 years later and in sound condition to walk across is a tribute to the remarkable engineering capabilities of the Romans.
While it seems unexpected to find such an architectural wonder in such a small out-of-the way centre, we learned that the area around Arles and Nîmes was a very important trading centre for the Empire in that part of the Roman world. ( We would see further impressive ruins in Arles a few days later.) It seems amazing to think that, in the Middle Ages, the significance of the aqueduct was lost. Apparently, peasants in the area sincerely believed it was the creation of the devil. Entrepreneurs in the Middle Ages saw the intact Roman aqueduct as a moneymaking opportunity and actually hewed out significant chunks of the tower bases to charge tolls to pedestrians to cross the river!
The inside of the aqueduct was extremely narrow in parts due to calcium build up over years of use, but still passable. We had the mandatory security bag & backpack check, then began to walk through to the other side. The guide explained the special terracotta treatment they applied to the surface of the huge stones to ensure impermeability. After she left us to make our own way back to the museum, she suggested we look for the still-visible Roman numerals on the huge stones that make up the base of the second level of the arches. The Roman numerals indicated to the slaves in which order to place the huge stones, one stacked on the other.
Next — part two of our time in western Provence!
Although I haven’t seen you for years (and you now have these wonderful grown up kids) I’m loving your blog and reading about your travels and the history of the wonderful towns & countryside.
It’s amazing – where have the years gone?!
God bless and safe travels, my lovely young Thimun friend 😘