About Gard

The Cévennes National Park (French: Parc national des Cévennes) is a national park located in southern France, in the mountainous area of Cévennes, with the highest point in the department being the Mont Aigoual. Created in 1970, it is located mainly in the départements of Lozère and Gard, and covers some parts of Ardèche and Aveyron. The Aven Armand cave is located in the park.
The park includes several mountains and plateaus, including: Mont Lozère, Mont Aigoual, Causse Méjean, France. Mont Lozère is the highest peak in the area, reaching 1,699 metres.
The Pont du Gard is a notable ancient Roman aqueduct bridge that crosses the Gard River in southern France. It is part of a 50 km (31 mi) long aqueduct that runs between Uzès and Nîmes in the South of France. It was constructed by the Romans in the 1st century AD and was added to UNESCO's list of World Heritage Sites in 1985. It is the highest of all Roman aqueduct bridges and is the best preserved after the Aqueduct of Segovia.The bridge has three tiers of arches, standing 48.8 m (160 ft) high, and formerly carried an estimated 200 million liters (44 million gallons) of water a day to the fountains, baths and homes of the citizens of Nîmes. The Pont du Gard's subsidiary function as a toll bridge ensured its survival in the Middle ages. Today it is one of France's most popular tourist attractions.

Uzes is a commune in the Gard department in southern France. It lies about 25 km north-northeast of Nîmes.
The town lies at the source of the Eure, from where a Roman aqueduct was built in the first century BC, to supply water to the local city of Nîmes, 25KM away. The most famous stretch of the aqueduct is the Pont du Gard, which carried fresh water over splendid arches across the river Gardon.

The present-day city retains the trace of its walls as a circuit of boulevards. A Capuchin chapel, built in 1635 to house the mortal remains of the dukes, occupies the site of a 1st century AD temple dedicated to the first Roman Emperor, Augustus. There are monuments of the prestige of the former bishopric, and private houses that witness the wealth that the textile trade brought in the 16th century. The town is also homes to three feudal towers, the Bermonde Tower (part of the château du Duché), the Bishop Tower and the Royal Tower. The surrounding countryside was strongly Protestant during the Wars of Religion in the 16th century, which wreaked havoc in Languedoc.

Numerous of the city's churches were trashed and burned by furious Protestants: only two remain today. The Cathedral was destroyed in the Albigensian Crusade, rebuilt, and destroyed again in the 16th century Wars of Religion. Rebuilt again in the 17th century, it was stripped out during the French Revolution. The 11th century Romanesque Tour Fenestrelle ("Window Tower"), with its paired windows, is probably the most famous icon of the city.

Uzes is famous in the area for its Wednesday and Saturday market as not only does it sell local produce but it also cloths of the region as well as plenty of tourist delights. For a day's retail therapy, there's no better spot in the Languedoc region than this lovely town of Uzès.

The weekly markets in the central Place aux Herbes stock garlicky olives and extra virgin olive oil, fragrant herbs, pots of thyme-flavoured honey, and small jars of snail and shallot spread. The side streets leading off from Place aux Herbes hide a multitude of small shops. These pedestrian-only streets feature beautiful boutiques selling chic womenswear and luxury goods for the well-heeled visitor, and wandering through the maze of well-kept streets with their cream-coloured stone buildings and grey-green paintwork is all part of the pleasure.

The following table shows the pattern of seasonal temperature changes over the year, based on temperatures (centigrade) recorded each month over a period of thirty years.

You will likely approach the area on the Autoroute (Motorway) A7 when coming from the north or the east, ie from Toulon, Marseille or Aix-en-Provence.

Marseilles Provence is the nearest major airport and Gare de Marseille-Saint-Charles the major railway station for trains from Paris.