Skip to main content

Posts

Showing posts with the label Arènes de Nimes

The Café Culture in France

The Shades Club are out in force here in Montmartre. It’s pure delight to sit and drink a fine red Bordeaux while contemplating on this sculpture by Jaume Plensa. Bordeaux offers many outdoor cafés for watching the world go by while enjoying their famous canelé pastry. In Nîmes, the best seat for a cuppa is right beside the Roman amphitheater that was built at the end of the first century. In Nice, orange chairs and hanging laundry provide a colorful backdrop for these outdoor cafés. In the medieval hilltop village of St. Paul de Vence, there’s always time to join friends for coffee and conversation at the outdoor terrace. “And the idea of just wondering off to a café with a notebook and writing and seeing where that takes me for awhile is just bliss.” J. K. Rowling ***** Images by TravelswithCharie

Romanity

The ancient Romans were prolific builders. They certainly left their architectural imprints across France. The Maison Carrée (square house) in Nîmes is a fine example of an ancient Roman temple in the Vitruvian style. The temple was dedicated to the grandsons of Augustus according to the reconstructed inscription from 1758 which reads: "To Gaius Caesar, son of Augustus, Consul; to Lucius Caesar, son of Augustus, Consul designate; to the princes of youth." The Maison Carrée is on a raised podium with six Corinthian columns across its façade and a deep pronaos or porch. Twenty columns attached to the wall line the sides and back of the building.  The Roman style ceiling is from a restoration done in the 19th century.  There is only one windowless  cella or cult room in the temple.  A 3D film about the founding of Nîmes  is shown continuously throughout the day in the cella.  The Arènes de Nîmes is an elliptical shaped Roman amphitheater from the second half of