Beautiful Nimes
Sep 29th, 2019, 09:53 AM
#1
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Beautiful Nimes
We have arrived in beautiful Nimes for the first six months of our 12 month stay in France. It is a beautiful place and we look forward to using it as our base. We decided ( read I decided) on Nimes and after basic research thought it would meet all of our requirements. Not knowing much about the city it has been a lovely surprise. So many well maintained parks any help greener than I expected.
The accommodation while not modern is better than the photos, and much more room than I expected. We are in a quiet residential area, and had the pleasure of meeting a neighbor today. My husband didn’t introduce himself to a different neighbor who was putting out the garbage in his underwear 😁. Importantly the Boulangerie opens at 6.00am. Helpful knowing this when you wake up at 3.00am after the long flight from Australia.
The food markets are fabulous especially for someone like me who isn’t a great cook. We have found people to be very patient with our very limited French. We have used the first few days to walk around the town (averaging 15ks a day) and working out where things are and generally recovering from jet lag.
We will start the many day trips we have on the list this week, and will provide brief updates. Have a good day all.
The accommodation while not modern is better than the photos, and much more room than I expected. We are in a quiet residential area, and had the pleasure of meeting a neighbor today. My husband didn’t introduce himself to a different neighbor who was putting out the garbage in his underwear 😁. Importantly the Boulangerie opens at 6.00am. Helpful knowing this when you wake up at 3.00am after the long flight from Australia.
The food markets are fabulous especially for someone like me who isn’t a great cook. We have found people to be very patient with our very limited French. We have used the first few days to walk around the town (averaging 15ks a day) and working out where things are and generally recovering from jet lag.
We will start the many day trips we have on the list this week, and will provide brief updates. Have a good day all.
Sep 30th, 2019, 08:32 AM
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cheska15, if you go to October 17 in this trip report, you will find our day in Nimes. You probably know it all already as they are/were tourist destinations, but FYI anyhow. Again have a wonderful time:
Trip Report: A Provence Sandwich
Where will your second 6 months be??
PS--we loved our hotel and location in Aix.
Trip Report: A Provence Sandwich
Where will your second 6 months be??
PS--we loved our hotel and location in Aix.
Last edited by TDudette; Sep 30th, 2019 at 08:36 AM. Reason: PS
Sep 30th, 2019, 09:17 AM
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Thanks. We arrived last Wednesday so have spent the time since then walking the streets of Nimes. I agree with you about the
beautiful tree lined streets, and so many of them.
We will be heading to the Loire Valley for 10 days after Nimes, then up to Dinan for a month. That should take us to about May
and then we will head to Strasbourg for three months. Not sure after that. We are going to Avignon tomorrow for the day and
I am really excited about visiting a place I have wanted to see for some time.
beautiful tree lined streets, and so many of them.
We will be heading to the Loire Valley for 10 days after Nimes, then up to Dinan for a month. That should take us to about May
and then we will head to Strasbourg for three months. Not sure after that. We are going to Avignon tomorrow for the day and
I am really excited about visiting a place I have wanted to see for some time.
Sep 30th, 2019, 04:00 PM
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So you are finally there after all your planning. It sounds fabulous and I know you will have a wonderful time. I am very envious. We are heading back in April next year for our usual ten weeks and not quite counting the days yet. Not quite brave enough to go for a year !!!. Looking forward to more reports.
Happy travels from Australia.
Happy travels from Australia.
Oct 1st, 2019, 09:00 AM
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rhon thanks for the good wishes. The visa application was a bit stressful, but moving out of our house for a year was way
more stressful and exhausting . I will post in a few days about the whole visa process for Aussies for future reference.
more stressful and exhausting . I will post in a few days about the whole visa process for Aussies for future reference.
Oct 1st, 2019, 10:05 AM
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Our first day trip was to Avignon today.
Left home at 7.45 to catch the 8.51 train. It’s is a five k walk to the train station and that gave us 10 mins to spare. It is a quick trip of 30 minutes
We walked from the station to the centre and it is 1 k of easy walking. After a good coffee we headed into the Palais de Papes. We had booked tickets on line, however there wasn’t a need to do this as there were no queues. We were given an IPad on arrival and it is great technology, as when you hold the iPad over the time capsule you can see how the room would have been. It was a fabulous place to visit. The architecture was amazing, and we really enjoyed the We spent two hours walking around.
The next stop was the Pont Saint Benezet. Not sure that I would recommend this. It’s ok, however if you were short of time you could give it a miss.
A mediocre lunch and we only had ourselves to blame by going to the Place d’ Aulage. After lunch we walked around the old town we found some beautiful looking restaurants that we have marked
for next time. As we have planned further visits to the town, we didn’t rush around and see everything.
It was a lovely day even and look forward to going back for lunch in the near future. A total of 17ks walked today. Now sitting with my feet up ��
Left home at 7.45 to catch the 8.51 train. It’s is a five k walk to the train station and that gave us 10 mins to spare. It is a quick trip of 30 minutes
We walked from the station to the centre and it is 1 k of easy walking. After a good coffee we headed into the Palais de Papes. We had booked tickets on line, however there wasn’t a need to do this as there were no queues. We were given an IPad on arrival and it is great technology, as when you hold the iPad over the time capsule you can see how the room would have been. It was a fabulous place to visit. The architecture was amazing, and we really enjoyed the We spent two hours walking around.
The next stop was the Pont Saint Benezet. Not sure that I would recommend this. It’s ok, however if you were short of time you could give it a miss.
A mediocre lunch and we only had ourselves to blame by going to the Place d’ Aulage. After lunch we walked around the old town we found some beautiful looking restaurants that we have marked
for next time. As we have planned further visits to the town, we didn’t rush around and see everything.
It was a lovely day even and look forward to going back for lunch in the near future. A total of 17ks walked today. Now sitting with my feet up ��
Oct 1st, 2019, 03:48 PM
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I am interested to read your experiences. While we would not consider as long as you are doing, we do think about staying longer than the ninety days - perhaps three or four one month stays. We are doing a one week, three two weeks and a three week stay next year. As we get older, we enjoy the slower pace.
The house is a point. We have no family here- two are interstate and the third is an hour and a half away. So no one really to look after it.
But I am very envious. We have not been to Nimes but did see it on the Tour this year. We visited Avignon for a day in 2010, picked up a car there in 2014 and have driven around it a couple of times when changing weeks.
Looking forward to following you .
The house is a point. We have no family here- two are interstate and the third is an hour and a half away. So no one really to look after it.
But I am very envious. We have not been to Nimes but did see it on the Tour this year. We visited Avignon for a day in 2010, picked up a car there in 2014 and have driven around it a couple of times when changing weeks.
Looking forward to following you .
Oct 1st, 2019, 09:55 PM
#15
Good reading! I’ll be following your adventures.
We made a day trip to Nîmes from Bedoin a few years ago, specifically to see the arena. What we saw of the town was lovely. We had a very nice lunch there, too.
We made a day trip to Nîmes from Bedoin a few years ago, specifically to see the arena. What we saw of the town was lovely. We had a very nice lunch there, too.
Oct 2nd, 2019, 07:23 AM
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I'm fond of Nîmes, but every darn time I've been there the arena has been cloaked in scaffolding. Except the one time they were preparing for a big rock concert and you couldn't visit. Grrr. I did see my first taureaux piscine in Nîmes once - that was amusing!
