Uzès

From Lindy

Bonnes Fetes. Hope you had a lovely Christmas.

"We have had a wonderful 3 weeks in Uzes and exploring the surrounding area. Winter is a magical time, extremely festive with all the Christmas lights and decorations in the towns and shops. We are eating and drinking extremely well, and have explored a lot nearby...Pont du Gard, gorge de Gardon, Avignon, Nimes, Chateauneuf du Pape, Gigondas and vacqueras, Mt Ventoux, the gorge d'Ardeche, and lots of walks in the villages and garrigue (Provençal forest) near Uzes. We had Christmas Eve dinner at home like the French...a pintarde fermier (free range guinea fowl) roast dinner and apple crumble made with the most delicious local French apples. Loved the markets, loved speaking French!

Could have stayed much longer in Languedoc, but now in Italy, and off to explore some of Florence".

Originally Ucetia, Uzès was a small Gallo-Roman oppidum, or administrative settlement. 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, 25 km (16 mi) 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.

Uzes is famous in the area for its Saturday market as not only does it sell local produce but it also sells cloths of the region as well as plenty of tourist delights.

Click here for episode 1 of Peta Mathias' Culinary Adventures in the South of France. She was based in Uzès.

Click here for a recipe for "la pintade fermiere"