From Uzès to Pont du Gard

"Ohh kucuk Uzès kasabasi !" diye tutkulu bir dille yazdi babasinin sehrini Fransiz yazar Andre Gide kendi öz yasam oykusunu anlattigi "Tohum Ölmezse" adli kitabinda. Parizyenlerin kibirli davranislarini zeki ve alayci bir sekilde surekli izleyen ve bunun hakkinda da yazan Gide, bu alayci tabiri surdurup "Eger Umbria da olsaydiniz simdi, Parizyenler sizi suruyle, akin akin ziyarete gelirlerdi." diye de yazmistir. Halbuki simdi o bahsettigi ust tabaka kibirli heyet'in burasinin Umbria da olmamasina ragmen Uzès e gelip, asik olduklarini ve hatta buraya yerlestiklerini duysa sanirim cok eglenirdi. 

The French writer Andre Gide wrote affectionately of his father's homeland by saying "Ohh little town of Uzès!" in his book "Unless the Seed Dies" which is about his life. He was a wry and clever observer of Parisian snobberies, that's why he said "If you were in Umbria, Parisians would be coming in flocks. " So,  he'd surely be amused to learn that today those coterie of Parisians is falling in love with Uzès and deciding to sustain their life here, despite the fact that here is not in Umbria. 

Her ne kadar turizmle kalkiniyor gibi gorunse de, Uzès, aslinda insanlarin aktif olarak yasadigi ve calistigi bir kasaba. Pazarlarin ve diger tum detaylarin genellikle yaz turistleri icin degil de yerliler icin oldugunun altini cizmeliyim. Zaten sokaklarinda dolasirken yasanmisligin verdigi havayi cigerlerinizde hissedeceksiniz, ne demek istedigimi anlayacaksiniz. Ufak bir bilgi sizlere aslinda buranin simdilerde bu kadar sirin ve yasanilasi gorundugune bakmayin 50 yil once kimsenin kalmak ve yasamak istemedigi bu eski ortacag kasabasi, devletin burayi 1962 yilinda tarihi alan olarak berilemesinden sonra renovasyon calismalari ve yatirimlar basliyor ve simdilerin yuksek gelirli tabakasinin gozbebegi haline geliyor. 

Even though it looks like Uzès is developing thanks to tourism, here is a real town where people live , work and where the market is for locals not just for summer tourists. Anyway you gonna understand what am I trying to tell, when you are there while breathing the air of true life. As an additional info, 50 years ago the town was dying. All the old buildings were dilapidated and deserted, and no one wanted to live in them. Then the French government declared Uzès a historic town and ville d'art, and invested money in its restoration. And like in nowadays it's becoming an upmarket place for the people and Parisians about who Gide talking. 

Place le Duche

Yogun ve etkileyici bir gune tam baslamadan Bec à Vin de guzel guzel bir ogle yemegi ziyafeti cekmenizi tavsiye ederim. 

Before starting an intense and an impressive day, I highly suggest Bec à Vin for a delicious lunch. 

Antik Yunan ve Roma mirasinin etkilerini, bugune kadar hala ayakta kalabilmis bir cok eserde; tapinakta, kolezyumda ve diger binalarda gorebilirsiniz. Bunlardan en bilineni ise Nimes'e su saglamak amaciyla Romalilar tarafindan yaptirilmis, Uzès'e  sadece 15 km mesafede olan  Pont du Gard, Paris'ten sonra Fransa'da en yogun turist ceken yerlerden birisi.  

The heritage of ancient Greeks and Romans is obvious with many ancient temples, coliseums, monuments and other buildings still standing today in Uzès. The most famous one is of course Pont du Gard, built in AD 60 by the Romans to supply water to Nimes, located only 15 km from Uzès and one of the most visited sites after Paris. 

Eger Uzès e ayiracak daha fazla vaktiniz varsa

- Jardin Médiéval' a ugrayin derim 

-12yy dan kalma Tour Fenestrelle in silindir bicimindeki mimarisi gorulmeye deger 

-Lezzetli truffler almak isterseniz ise Place aux Herbes de haftalik kurulan pazara cevirin rotanizi

-Birazda agzimiz tatlansin derseniz Willy Wonka'nin fabrikasinin gercek hayata donusturen     Haribo'nun Musée du Bonbon'unu gormelisiniz

If you have more time for Uzès ;

- I highly suggest to visit Jardin Médiéval

-Tour Fenestrelle dated 12th century is worth to see for it's cylindrical six-storey gem. 

-If you want to buy tuffle to enrich your meals, lay up for the weekly market held in Place aux Herbes 

-A must see for the sweet-toothed, Musée du Bonbon belonging to Haribo is like a Willy Wonka factory come true to life. 

Nasil gidilir: Avignon'dan en cabuk ve hesapli ulasim yolu otobus. Uzès'den Pont du Gard a gitmek icin ise ister taksi ister otobusu tercih edebilirsiniz. Biz otobus saatlerine yetisemedigimiz icin giderken taksi donerken ise otobus kullandik. 

How to go: To Uzès from Avignon a fast and economic way is taking a bus. And to go to Pont du Gard from Uzès you can take taxi or bus but as we couldn't match the timeltable of the bus we took taxi and we turned back by bus. 

Pics by JB and me