We have been back for two days now after an afternoon trip to Pont du Gard, a 2000 year-old Roman aquaduct in an awesome state of preservation, and we can't get it out of our heads.

The thing is, the aquaduct is so well preserved as to look fully functional. Unlike various amphitheatres scattered around Europe, Hadrian's Wall, or the Forum in Rome, where you get a hint of what once was, the Pont du Gard is so complete that you have the whole thing before you, almost as if it were built yesterday. It needs no imagination, interpretation or renovation. It just is.

The aquaduct is a three-tiered structure, with large arches at the base, supporting similar arches above which in turn supprt around 30 smaller arches on top. These in turn carry the channel for the water. The whole structure spans the Gardon River, and was built in the incredibly short space of five years to supply water to the Roman citizens of Nimes. It was so well constructed it remained functional for around 500 years. Ha! Show me something built in the 1960s or 70s that is as good now, less than 50 years later. Ok, the Sydney Opera house, I'll give you that. And the Los Angeles Airport iconic theme building, yeah I guess. Oh alright, Auckland Harbour Bridge... But you know what I mean. They won't still be serving their purpose four or five hundred years from now, and almost certainly won't be standing in 2000 years. In general, we don't build things to last any more.

So the Pont du Gard is testimony to a bygone age, when people (well, Romans in particular) built not just with decades in mind, but centuries. But functional engineering apart, it is, well, just awesome. The warm honey-coloured stone glowed in the bright winter sunshine. Backlit from the A side, the B side reflected some of the sun from the river below, and the stones of the aquaduct themselves spread a warmth over the structure that made it almost luminous.

(Why A Side and B Side? Because the aquaduct has had a more modern addition at the level of the lower arches on the downstream side that carries a service road, and a means for the general public to cross the Gardon without having to touch the aquaduct. So viewed from upstream you get the aquaduct as the Romans originally built it, hence we called it the A Side)

Our cameras clicked and beeped non-stop, and we scrambled up and down rocky riverside paths looking for the best view, or belevedere, as the French charmingly call it. We worked our way to the top tier, curious to know whether the Romans protected their water with a lid as it raced south, high across the Gardon towards the thirsty throats of Nimes. They did, and much of the roof over the sluice remains, though it is off-limits to tourists.

We'd brought folding chairs with us, and had a riverside picnic down below the arches in the sun, our eyes inevitably drawn back again and again to the spans. (Yes, there were tiers in our eyes :-)

We were virtually alone, still being winter (and especially after that pun) but grateful to have the view uninterrupted. In the summer months the area is so popular they even have lifeguards on duty beside the river.

We wondered whether, 2000 years ago, the residents of Nimes ever travelled up to the aquaduct for picnics, to swim in the river, and marvel at the awesome construction that spanned its banks, surely a marvel of the age. Or did they just take for granted the water that flowed to their troughs and fountains?

Then we tried to think of something we have built today that will still likely be around in 2000 years, and couldn't think of anything. (Discuss...)

Anyway, thanks Romans. You gave us a great day out, and we have multiple photos to prove it (see the Pont du Gard album under Photos), including The Money Shot: not a picture of the bridge itself, but its reflection in the river, which - due to the lazy current and swirling eddies - looks like a gorgeous impressionist painting, especially when inverted the "right way up".

(If you like it and want a better resolution cooy to use maybe as a background for your PC, just ask and we'll email one)

Whichever way you look at it, on reflection, the Pont du Gard is a winner.