Today we visited the Pont du Gard, the 2000 year old aqueduct built by the Romans. It was an incredible feat of engineering. I remember learning about it in my architectural history class way back. It's roughly equivalent in height and length to the high level bridge, built entirely of stone without any mortar. Seeing it up close was a great experience -- definitely a highlight of the trip so far. Next on the agenda was Arles, where we planned to have lunch, b...

We spent the day today in Avignon, which has some incredibly well preserved structures dating from the middle ages. First was the Pont St-Benezet, the bridge of the famous song. It was built in the 12th century, but largely destroyed by floods in later centuries. You can walk on the part that still goes part way across the Rhone river (see pic) which we did. Next was the Palais des Papes (Pope's Palace) where several Popes resided in the 1300s. I didn't know that...