Day 15 (Friday, September 11, 2009)
From Carcassonne, I headed to a small town called
Minerve. This village is placed spectacularly within a wide canyon and is famous for once being a hide-out for a group of Cathars back in 1210. After photographing Minerve from an overlook, I parked the car in the nearby pay lot and then walked through town for a bit. Like so many other small villages in France, this one was very pleasant to wander through and photograph.
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| Minerve |
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| Minerve |
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| Minerve |
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| Window in Minerve. |
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| Side street in Minerve. |
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| Minerve |
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| View from Minerve. |
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| View from Minerve. |
From Minerve, I began the long drive into Provence. After about two hours, I stopped at the
Pont du Gard, which is a Roman aqueduct. This amazing structure is listed on the UNESCO World Heritage list and was used by the Romans to supply water to the town of Nimes, one of the largest cities in Europe during Roman times. The aqueduct had three levels that originally spanned about 1100 feet; now it is approximately 800 feet long. Amazingly enough, this structure was built without the use of any mortar sometime around the year 19 BC or during the middle of the first century A.D, depending on which historian you ask. Regardless of when it was built, it is truly amazing to think that the bridge has been in existence for nearly 2,000 years.
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