France: Chateau Baux de Provence and Port du Gard

We spent yesterday with Maria, Roland, Erich and Fin. We met in the car park at the Chateau and as usual Roland managed to find the last space in the upper car park and we had to climb the steps from one lower down. The Chateau was 9th to 10th C and was of course just remnants. It was built and excavated into the top of a large limestone mesa and has been well developed for visitors.  We had audio recorders which explained what we were looking at and there were steps up to the battlements and through the remains of the chateau. There were steps everywhere!! Fortunately there were also paths connecting the various areas but I can tell you that in our two and a half hours there we earned our lunch. The views of the valley were spectacular and the limestone of the surrounding range was of a particularly strong type though eroded into interesting formations. This is also the region where bauxite was originally mined and how it was named. Life in a chateau was fairly basic in that era and the family died out in the 10th C but we weren't told whether as a result of conflict or disease.
From there we went on to the Pont du Gard which Bob and I had seen from the highway as we drove by on a previous visit to France. It is an amazing three level bridge and aquaduct constructed in the period between the 19thC BC and the 1st C AD by the Romans to bring water into Nimes from Uzes a distance of 50kms. The bridge is 49metres high,  275m long and has 35 arches. It could carry 20,000 cu metres of water per day.  This time we entered the park at it's base and walked across the bridge level and photographed it from various angles. It is so big it is impossible to take close shots which encompass all the levels and it's breadth. Nearby there is a large shallow cave and just discernable on the back wall is a painting of the Lascaux style. It shows up better in the photo than the eye can perceive.  Also in the park there are three very large olive trees. Maria translated the plaque next to one. The tree was planted in 905  in Spain and transplanted to the park 30 years ago. It is still healthy. At the approach to the Pont there is a very long avenue of tall old trees. Roland told us that Napoleon had trees planted along all the roads so that his soldiers marched in shade and were not too tired when they arrived at the battle.
We said goodbye to the Scheideggers who return to Zurich today and came home for a quiet dinner.