Tuesday 25 June 2013

My French Diary: Episode I



Nimes: who needs health and safety anyway!

So this is me, living the French dream, blogging from an apartment, croissant in hand. I thought by way of an apology for my lack of blogging I´d produce some daily updates for you complete with pictures.



One of the advantages to travelling light is that when you land at an out of town airport you can still explore. I boarded a shuttle bus, cribbing from my Lonely Planet as I travelled, and trying not to meet the eyes of the English Nationalist: complete with patriotic tattoos, England shirt and England bag.

Once in Nimes I headed up the main thoroughfare towards this statue, conscious of how very touristy I looked with all my worldly goods on my back and then I saw it, the amphitheatre. It is the most complete Roman Amphitheatre in the world and it stands at 70ft tall. With time to spare and money to burn I paid a visit.

(for scale, the building on the left is 3 storeys high!)

Strengths
 * Comprehensive audio guide in English including as many ´more info´ buttons as you could wish for. Background on the town, Roman culture and the Amphitheatre itself
* Unparalled access to the site. In England the majority of the places we walked would have been out of bounds for health and safety reasons.
* Brilliant views
* An attempt at ´Gladiator experience´by transforming one room into a Gladitorial chamber



Weaknesses
* The whole theatre was full of staging equipment which probably funds the place being open but to the detriment of the visitor experience
* Lack of walking assistance particularly handrails - maybe I just need to grow a pair but the tiers were 1.5ft deep so I was clambering as opposed to walking up them. And once stood up the wind strength was high. Also they had very steep inclines in places.
* No safety bars either - nothing between you and a 4 storey drop  at times - lovely photos, scary implications especially for the lady taking a stroll along the top at 70 feet!



(Can you see the crazy lady?!)

This laid back attitude to health and safety was refreshing and yet also terrifying, especially with numerous kids running around and ladies considering stilletos fine discovery equipment! After this I became reaquainted with a Chinese/Canadian tourist and we swapped notes on the train. It felt really good to arrive in Avignon!

(Note swapping with China)


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