Jamie – 13 September 2011

Hard to believe we are into our fourth and final week in Uzes. It seems like only last night we were sitting in a French field with 200 locals woofing down garlic snails and lavender ice-cream as the sun set and the accordion played. But our month is nearly up and we shall have to remember how to tell the time again using conventional methods – we will miss the lovely bell tower and its deep resonant hourly reminders. You can hear it from every corner of the town, and it has become our friend. Speaking of friends, we have made lots in Uzes and have promised to stay in touch with many of them – we leave determined to keep that promise.

The last week has been packed with activities built around Mylo and Foster’s birthdays which fell last Friday and Monday respectively. Our families back home sponsored some wonderful days out.

Thank you to Susie, Dave, Ned, Harry and Milla Cohen for treating us to an 8km kayak trip last Friday down the Gardon River with its picturesque gorges. Mylo and I were in one boat while Bec and Foster were in the other (Sari was practicing her French with the babysitter). Nimes hospital would not have been impressed that Bec paddled 8km with her broken thumb but she wasn’t going to miss it, and considered a few extra days of pain was more than offset by the majestic view of the Pont–Du-Gard as we rounded a bend and she came into view. The Pont-Du-Gard is a Roman aquaduct bridge built by the Romans in the 1^st century AD to carry fresh water 50kms from Uzes to Nimes. Despite being almost 2,000 years old it is wonderfully preserved and a great credit to the Roman engineers of the day.

Our stretch of river was wide and mostly shallow (so fast flowing) and it was a gloriously sunny day so the two boats engaged in some excellent water fights along the way. There were a few small rapids to navigate and both Bec and I had to jump out (in knee high water) on separate occasions to avoid the odd bolder or fallen tree which threatened to tip us over. Despite (or possible because of) my outstanding bladework I suffered my first ever bout of tennis elbow later that night. As someone who played tennis every week for 20 years I have long considered this affliction to almost certainly be a product of the mind. I now know that it is NOT. Happily it was gone by the end of the next day.

Drifting down the Gard

Pont-Du-Gard ahead Captain!

On Sunday the boys and I drove an hour to the outskirts on a rather non-descript town called Bagard. We did this as it is home to a boys paradise called Forestparc, which was the boy’s present from Pa and Mich. This is a pine forest adventure land for those who like to climb tall trees and pretend they’re a spider-monkey. The park contains dozens of “up in the tree” rope courses which cater to different ages, and incorporate over 100 different obstacles to overcome in and between the many trees.

Each course includes numerous zip-lines (or “flying foxes” as I’ve always called them) that transport you from one large tree to another one – sometimes up to 30 metres away. After some pretty full-on training at the start of the day you are belted up as if you are about to climb K2 and then clipped onto the life-line of the course you are doing. It is not without its dangers (hence the rather serious training) and I found myself obsessively watching each son clip on their first carabiner before unclipping their second as they transitioned to different sections of each course, all 10 metres above the ground! We had a great day but sadly no photos – the below is taken from the park’s website (you get the idea – vertigo sufferer’s nightmare).

Don't look down.

Finally, yesterday we revisited the Pont-Du-Gard, this time from ground level. There is an excellent modern museum next to the bridge which had some wonderful hands-on exhibitions for the children to explore. Most of it focused on the life and times of the local people in the first century, when the bridge was built, and on the principals employed to move water, sometimes great distances.

We then walked across the bridge itself with many others and were struck by how massive it is. We were also struck by the talents and stupidity of a group of teenage girls who suddenly decided to demonstrate their gymnastic skills on the edge of the bridge. It felt for a moment that we were about to witness a pointless tragedy but thankfully they dropped to the right side of the bridge after copping a serious ticking off from a wide-eyed official. I think our children thought it was all part of the show.

The Adamsons (nee Griswalds) at the Pont-Du-Gard

Skill 6/10 Stupidity 10/10

How not to eat an ice-cream