Beaucaire is one of the most interesting villages I've ever seen. It reminded me of some of the villages along the coast of Normandy, because the center of town had a large marina. If you look carefully you can see some rain drops on the windsheild. We were about the leave the rain, if not the clouds behind for a while.

The bridge is massive, but once you are on it and see the size of the individual stones that were used to build it, you begin to feel the immense size of the structure.

The fact that the bridge has lasted 2000 years is amazing when you look at how the river has scoured out a channel. In fact, there was a time in the 1990s when the river flooded and did some damage to the bridge. On the day we were there the river was very well behaved. There was an egret fishing just passed the building on the left.

Over the years the bridge has had a special place in the lives of people as witnessed by the numerous carvings in the stones of the bridge. This carving commemorates a visit to the bridge 1713. Many of the carvings are flowery versions of John loves Mary. Some seem to have been done on wedding days.

Our only problem at the Pont du Gard was trying to pay for our parking. The automatic pay machine didn't like our VISA card, so we paid in cash and received a ticket. When we put our ticket in the exit controller, it rejected it. Luckily I got the attention of the one person in the building at the entrance. She was about to leave, but openned the gate for us. Merci beaucoup!

Once again the navigation system took us straight to the Campanile hotel in Orange where we were going to stay that night. After checking in and unloading our bags, we ventured into the town. We found the central parking area which is near the shopping area and the historic area. It was perfect for our purposes. The first order of business was lunch. We walked through the shopping area but there were few restaurants of interest. Then we noticed that a number of people were heading toward Le Garden restaurant. Their lunch menu looked good so we went in.

From this photo you can tell who was too hungry to wait for me to take a photo. We noticed that most people there were having the daily special, sauted veal on rice. The special was 13€ and included tabouleh, the veal main dish, dessert, wine and coffee! It looked great so we both ordered it.

The clients were in many cases regulars, since they were on a very cordial basis with the staff and restaurant owner. After the waitress took our order we could see why. She was very friendly and happy to help in any way. The owner also came around to talk to every table. Amazed at how well Jan spoke French, he even offered us a lodging idea for the next time we were in the area.

As you can tell Jan was well pleased with the meal and also with the chance to chat with some of the people from the area. The time spent talking to people is always the most important part of the trip. Oh, and the food was excellent!

The next stop on our day in Orange was the Roman Theater. The theater dates from the reign of Augustus Ceasar, so his statue has center stage. This wall was the best preserved theater wall left in the entire area of the Roman Empire. The statue and pillars were discovered at the base of the wall, and the seating area had been lost during the time when much of the city of Orange actually built houses and lived in the theater. The seating area was reconstructed in the 19th century. Opera recitals are performed in the theater during the summer.

Next to the theater is another Roman ruin that has much the same semicircle design as the theater. It is believed to be a Roman Temple.