Today’s entry is going to be short on words and long on pictures, which after the 2500 word bomb yesterday should probably come as a relief to all ten of you following along. You’d think that if I can write 2500 word blog posts, I could write a 2500+ word story without so much hand-wringing, but…

This morning was spent at the market in the Place aux Herbes again, shopping for groceries and general culinary delights.  For lunch, we tore into a variety pack of tapenades and other dips along with our daily staple, fresh baguette.  I’m becoming quite the fan of tapenade, which is just strange, considering you couldn’t pay me to eat olives before this trip. I guess the secret to getting me to eat something is to turn it into a dip. So very American of me, I suppose.

This afternoon, we ventured into the Medieval Garden of Uzes, which is at the base of the Bishop’s Tower not far at all from where we are staying.  There, I took many panoramas of the town itself as well as the plants and flowers of the garden below.  In one chamber, we found ancient graffiti carved into the stone walls, much of it made by prisoners in the 1600s proclaiming their innocence.  Finding a decent translation of what that was about has eluded us thus far, but I’m hoping to research it later. Seems there was something about a tax revolt? The place felt a little haunted in a peculiar way, at the very least by rats, which scurried away into the nooks and corners when I first walked in. Like so many places here, you can feel the history all around you in a way you just don’t in most of the United States. Being here really drives home just how young the country is (I guess if you ignore the centuries of Native American culture that was wiped out before we took everything, anyway).

It’s been a relaxing day, and I’m looking forward to seeing the roman ruins in Nimes tomorrow.  For now, enjoy this gallery of photos from day six!

Permalink