One cannot tell whether the Gard prefers fresh water or salt water.
One cannot tell whether the Gard chooses people or the land.
One cannot tell whether the Gard favours the sun or the cool shade.
One knows nothing of the Gard until one truly discovers it.
In its own way, it beckons us, and then the Gard agrees to reveal its secrets, even tries to tell us its story. And its story is written with a capital H, and the flavour of its adventures sparks our imagination.
The Gard surprises us, because it takes hold of us by taking us by surprise.
Visit the Pont du Gard
- Its museum: the history of the aqueduct
- Its cinema: the bridge in cinemascope
- Ludo: children's areas
- Memoires de garrigue: Mediterranean landscapes
Photo : Benh LIEU SONG (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons
Les Gorges du Gardon
A classified natural area where you can go canoeing and kayaking, rock climbing on the many equipped walls, swimming or hiking. From Russan, passing through "la Baume" (a protected site), all the way to the Pont du Gard.
Photo : Ravenclaw (Own work) [GFDL or CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons
Uzes, 12 km
The ducal city of Uzes, the first Duchy of France, and its famous Saturday morning market.
Nimes the Roman, 20 km
Nimes reflects this department where contemporary history and ever-present Roman monuments never cease to amaze.
Avignon - The Rhone Valley, 20 km
Its famous Palais des Papes, the theatre festival throughout July, and... "sur le pont d'Avignon, on y..."
Water and wine, and new horizons opening towards Spain, Italy and the Orient. Avignon the Papal, Villeneuve the Royal... between palaces, churches and fortifications, the imagination runs wild, blending the Roman and medieval eras.
Not forgetting the multitude of small villages typical of Provence, with their period wash-houses, and tiny hamlets emerging from a wild landscape where stone is the common thread: Saint Bonnet du Gard, Vers pont du Gard, Castillon du Gard, Argilliers, Collias, Sanilhac, etc.
Photo : Jean-Marc ROSIER [CC-BY-SA-3.0], via Wikimedia Commons
The Camargue, 30 km
Here, the Rhone has imposed its will and the Mediterranean had to give way.
Full of character and colour, a fine blend of wild nature and welcoming land, the Camargue Gardoise is a spectacle like no other, where horses and bulls reign supreme...
Arles, Saint Gilles, Le Grau du Roi, Port Camargue, L'Espiguette, Les Saintes Maries de la Mer, etc.
Photo : Brücke-Osteuropa (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
The Ceze Valley
Ups and downs, valleys that become standing stones, dolmens that thumb their noses at us. Here, since time immemorial, people have cultivated the gold of time -- the kind that amazes through the sheer diversity of its discoveries.
The Cevennes
Streams, waterfalls, cascades, steep gorges, deep forests -- the Cevennes invigorate the gaze while you rest at a terrace or along a transhumance trail. Ales can be proud to be its capital. It shines over a land of character, shaped by people of character.