more big old rocks

To conclude the tale of the four-day road trip, when Mary and I left the beach we drove north to Nimes. We got caught in the French truck protest called "l'escargot".... the name evokes the result of the protest quite nicely. But we made it to Nimes just in time to meet my friends Nancy and Chris, whom Leo and I got to know in London several years ago. They have a house not far from Nimes, and I left Mary to spend the night there. I had a great time catching up with Nancy and Chris, and getting to know their friends Bella and Gigi, who were also visiting, as well as their lovely neighbor Jane. Jane has spent most of her life visiting that town and took us around to see some of the hidden sights, including the beautiful, sprawling farm house she stayed at as a child. To my delight, there was a little prehistoric menhir (remember the dolmen? a menhir is the dolmen's single friend) in the garden. Two megaliths in one trip. Doesn't get better than that.

Nancy and Chris very kindly drove me back to Menerbes the following day, stopping along the way to see a variety of interesting sites, mostly more big old rocks, my favorite kind of sight. We saw the Pont du Gard, which was as fabulous as I imagined, and also a very nice little triumphal arch near the Roman town of Glanum.