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Uzes
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Some 37km from Nimes, near the start of the Pont du Gard and served by daily buses from Nimes,
UZES
is a lovely old town perched on a hill above the River Alzon. Half a dozen medieval towers - the most fetching is the windowed Pisa-like
Tour Fenestrelle
, tacked onto the much later cathedral - rise above its tiled roofs and narrow lanes of Renaissance and Neoclassical houses, the residences of the seventeenth- and eighteenth-century local bourgeoisie, who had grown rich like their Protestant co-religionists in Nimes on textiles. From the mansion of Le Portalet, with its view out over the valley, walk past the Renaissance church of
St-Etienne
and into the medieval place aux Herbes, where there's a Sunday morning market, and up the arcaded rue de la Republique. The Gide family used to live off the square, the young Andre spending summer vacations with his granny there. To the right of rue de la Republique is the
castle of Le Duche
(90-minute guided tours daily: mid-June to mid-Sept 10am-6.30pm; rest of year 10am-noon & 2-6pm; 55F/8.39), still inhabited by the same family a thousand years on; it is dominated by its original keep, the
Tour Bermonde
. Today, there are guided tours around the castle building and exhibits of local history and vintage cars. Opposite, the courtyard of the eighteenth-century
Hotel de Ville
holds summer concerts.
For details of these and other summer events, including more bull-running
corridas
, consult the
tourist office
in place Albert 1er on boulevard Gambetta (July & Aug Mon-Fri 9am-6pm, Sat 10am-noon & 2-5pm, Sun 10am-5pm; rest of year Mon-Fri 9am-noon & 1.30-6pm, Sat 10am-1pm; tel 04.66.22.68.88,
www.uzes.fr
). The
gare routiere
(tel 04.66.22.00.58) is further west on avenue de la Liberation. Should you need a
bed
, head for the friendly
Hostellerie Provencal
in two old row houses at 1 rue Grand Bourgade, south of the church of St-Etienne (tel 04.66.22.11.06; 160-220F/24-34; closed Sun & Mon evening Sept-June & Feb), or the attractively renovated
La Taverne
(tel 04.66.22.13.10, fax 04.66.22.45.90; 220-300F/34-46), behind the tourist office at 4 rue Xavier Sigalon, with a good
terroir
restaurant up the road at no. 7 (from 80F/12.20). The only other option in town is the deluxe
General d'Entraigues
, 8 rue de la Calade (tel 04.66.22.32.68, fax 04.66.22.57.01; 300-400F/46-61), in a converted fifteenth-century mansion opposite the cathedral. Alternatively, there is a municipal
campsite
off avenue Maxime-Pascal (tel 04.66.22.11.79; closed mid-Sept to mid-June), on the Bagnols-sur-Ceze road running northeast of town. Other useful information
for tourists (each section contains more specific sub-sections): |
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France,
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