In fall 2000, I went to the South of France to spend two quiet weeks at an old mill near the village of La Roque-sur-Cèze, seven miles west of Bagnols-sur-Cèze, 25 miles from the ancient city of Avignon, together with my wife and our eighteen-year-old daughter Christine. We left Hamm on Saturday, September 28, early around five o'clock in the morning, when it was still completely dark.

On the freeway we passed Cologne, went south to Trier, because we chose the route via Luxembourg. In order to avoid a detour we had to leave the freeway and make our way through the Eifel Mountains. At the outskirts of Trier, we got back to a freeway, moved into Luxembourg, still in the dark. The Duchy of Luxembourg is not very large at all. It just took us 40 minutes to go through, pass by the capital, and cross the border into France.

Unlike on the border between Germany and Luxembourg, the cars had to slow dow and pass a couple of French men and women in uniform. They didn't stop a single car, but gave a demonstration of their presence by intensely looking at the people passing by.
According to the Schengen Treaty, they are not entitled to border controls....

Now the day was dawning, and we made pretty good progress through the endless hilly countryside of France, through Lorraine, Alsace, passed Dijon in Bourgogne. When we reached Lyon on the River Rhône, we knew that there'd be only 120 more miles to go
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The ancient village of La Roque-sur-Cèze

We arrived at La Roque about five in the afternoon. The River Cèze had a raging aspect, with rapids and foaming waters everywhere.
No one of the passers-by seemed to know where that moulin actually was, obvious tourists they hadn't heard of its existence at all.

The River Cèze on a fine day, about a week  later.

There was a small lane by the banks of the river, called Chemin du Moulin de Cors, which gave me confidence in following the right track. Ten minutes later I became aware of the mill on the right-hand side along with the swimming pool and a slopy meadow with two horses.

Take a look at that old mill and come back here by hitting the back button on your browser.

Here now are some more shots

A shot from near the mill house to the pool

That cat sitting on the way to our condo belongs to Cathérine and Daniel Hédouin.

The old mill is surrounded by miles and miles of vineyards. In every village in this area you are to find wine growers and wine cellars, the caves, where fine wines are offered, most of them pretty good, even if not quite as good as those wines from Châteauneuf-du-Pape, also in this area, twenty miles away.
 
 

There are a number of sights to be seen in the area.

On our way to the ancient town of Nîmes, dating back from Roman times, we saw the Pont du Gard, a Roman aqueduct.

Le Pont du Gard

In Nîmes, there are more fine relics from Roman times.
 

Les Arènes in Nîmes

There's this amphitheater, known as the Arènes, where gladiator fights took place in Roman times. Nowadays there are bull fights, known as corridas. At other times the buildings is to serve as a theater.
 

This building dates back from the first century B.C. It was a Roman temple. It was to become the first museum in the city of Nîmes in 1823. Today the interior restored in 1988 is dedicated to exhibitions of contemporary art.           La Maison Carrée

By the way, did you know that the word denim derives from the French words 'de Nîmes' (pronounced de nim)? It was Nîmes, actually, where Levi Strauss got that blue denim for his first blue jeans from.

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