Nîmes: Roman France

Story and photography by
Nancy & Eric Anderson 

 

Nîmes is the most Roman town in France yet in some ways more Spanish than French. (That’s true of many towns near the Mediterranean Coast in the South of France. They can be culturally more Italian or Spanish depending on how close they are to the neighboring country to the east or west.)

Nîmes gives you both the flavor of Spain and Rome at the city’s 2000 year-old coliseum. In the background is the massive arena the Romans built around 70AD to hold 20,000 spectators. “Its size was meant to impress, even intimidate the local people,” says our guide, Sophie Bouzat. “It was to show the strength of Rome because there really weren’t 20,000 persons around at that time.” She hastens to say Nîmes with its long pre-Roman history was not defeated by Rome but rather accepted as an important trading partner. Whatever, the arena is a magnificently preserved Roman monument and in its foreground stands a striking statue created in 1994 by Serena Carone of the tragic figure of Nimeño II, a matador who had become the heartthrob of the city. His older brother had been a famous bullfighter and ultimately his manager. Nimeño II II and another bullfighter were to fight six bulls in May 1989 but the other matador was injured early and Nimeño II ended up killing all six an impressive performance. Four months later he was bullfighting in Nîmes again. A bull gored him and threw him in the air. He landed on his head and was rendered paraplegic. Two years of intense therapy still left him paralyzed down one side. He hanged himself in his garage in November 1991, a tragic figure.

Bullfighting occurring in this arena may be a barbaric sport but so was what preceded it in Roman times: gladiator fighting. The past is all around: Francois I awarded the city its coat of arms in 1553. It was based on a Roman coin minted to commemorate the victory of Emperor Augustus over Marc Anthony and Cleopatra at the Battle of Actium, in 31BC where the Romans “chained the Egyptian crocodile to the palm tree.” Small medallions showing this logo shine amongst the cobbles in the streets, a crocodile fountain in Nîmes poses for the visitors and an easy walk around the corner, in city hall, four stuffed preserved crocodiles have swung suspended for four centuries. The people of Nîmes are surely proud of their coat of arms as were the Romans of their victory, a seminal event in the Roman Empire.

Nîmes is not inundated with tourists like Avignon. It is a working city and the people in its streets are local French, not American or German tourists. “And it’s eminently compact, clean and we’re proud we’ve kept its identity. We have maintained our cultural roots, we are a beautiful city and we have some of the most extraordinary gardens in Europe. And it is walkable!”

It sure is. It’s about 10 minutes walk from one major attraction to another. However, once you get to the gardens, a vast spread-out complex that was a sanctuary for women in Roman times, there is indeed a lot to cover including the hike not only to the Roman tower but something like the 144 steps up the circular staircase to the balcony that gives such a magnificent panorama of the city.

What else can you expect to see as you stroll through Nîmes? If you are lucky the city will have completed, finally, its several years-long renovation of the Maison Carrée, the magnificent Roman temple built on the forum by Agrippa who died in 12BC. At the moment half of the building is covered with drapes and the interior space is used for a 20-minute presentation about the heroes of Nîmes. It’s in 3D but surely wasn’t created by James Cameron and your time would be better spent checking out the modern building opposite, the Carrée d’Art. It houses the city library, a museum of contemporary art and a restaurant that has a daily plate for about 12 to 17 Euros. That’s actually value in this country, this continent that mocks the US Dollar. For example the insignificant little café on the other side of the Roman temple charges 6 Euros about $10 for two Cokes. This is not because it is a foreign drink. Coffee is the same price.

The covered market at Les Halles, a five-minute walk from the forum, justifies a visit. One of the stalls sells Chantilly cream (made from a 17th century recipe) with has lines out into the street at weekends. Another sells 200 different cheeses, all aged by Stephane Vergne, the dairy farmer himself. Says our guide, “Some of the stalls are very specific. For example, that charcuterie over there prepares cured meat but specializes in pata negra, Spanish black pig leg for split pea soup. It is expensive but unbelievably tasty.”

She points to another counter. “Here Stephane Vergne sells 200 different cheeses, all aged by himself.” She gives a self-deprecating smile. “When we go shopping we might buy one cheese at this counter and another at another. We shop according to our social networks and family traditions – it takes us ages to shop.”

It doesn’t takes ages for us to suggest we treat our guide to a coffee. We’ve been three weeks in France and are dying for a cup of American coffee. There’s a McDonalds just around the corner. Ms Bouzat our guide has the grace not to laugh when we suggest we go there for coffee. Our other economies in this delightful city where denim cloth (de nimes) was first created included choosing a hotel, Acanthe du Temple, on the internet that charged us 60 Euros a night – good for Provence but still more than we’d have paid in the United States for a similar quality…and a hotel that was within walking distance of the railway station.