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Today we intend to continue where we left off yesterday. We start by going up to the service point then set off towards Uzes and Pont du Gard. The first main town is Anduze where we see the steam railway's lattice bridge and hear the train whistle but don't see it. Anduze is a busy little place, with Italianate buildings along the river bank and a thriving centre.
After a good few days of challenging roads today's straight forward 'A' roads are a pleasure; smooth, generally wide and no hidden surprises. We even get some dual carriageway. The scenery is different too. Crops and rolling vineyards. On some trips we've seen almost too many vineyards but toay they're a refreshing change.
We stop in Uzes fo lunch and consider a visit, but we agreed yesterday we had to choose Uzes or St-Jean-du-Gard, so we head on to Pont du Gard, the famous and massive Roman aqueduct. We follow the parking signs around a corner and suddely without warning we are channeled to a ticket barrier. Tariff reads Camping-cars €18.00. A sub line states U-Turns are allowed. We pull the ticket, go through and u-turn straight to the exit in less than 20 seconds. Redeem ticket and get out. The bridge is carefully screened from view along the road and for that money it will remain unseen by us. Postards not required either.
We do see an impressive little collecion of Roman remains as we cross the bridge a Remoulins, some columns, pointy porticos and stepped foundations so that sooths the anger a bit.
Tonight's first choice stop is Comps, near Nimes. The aire is under trees by the River Gardon or Gard, on a tributary of the Rhone. We get a wonderful riverside pitch, shaded from the 28C heat and freshened by gusts of Mistral.
A loud drone attracts our eyes skywards as three bright yellow firefighting sea-planes lumber overhead, followed shortly by two more pairs.
The wide river trickles by, its smooth surface interruped by occasional swimmers and anglers as we just sit and enjoy the calm.
A man collects the €6 fee, another one not aware of Law 301 - free for blue badges, but it's worth every cent anyway.
In the evening music and firecrackers anounce the start of a weekend festival. Manic French trumpeting and drumming goes on through our evening meal.
The river is glassy smooth and the tree bark shows off its colours as the sun lowers in the west.
As the evening goes on, what would have been a really lovely place is ruined by loud mindless club 'music' with the rantings of 'Monsieur le Thé Glacé' banging away in the stadium until 01:30
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