Hot, hot, hot

This morning we embarked down the Gard River in top side kayaks. In France they call these "American Kayaks" although the man acknowledged that they were not indeed American.

Almost immediately we stopped for Bob and I to jump into the cool water. It was before 10 am but already very, very warm. The paddle down river was lovely and peaceful with views of limestone cliffs and unbelievable quantities of fish in many varieties visible at almost any moment below us. We saw several herons (one that looked a lot like a Snowy Egret), ducks and frogs - the frogs make a fantastic call that sounds like an exaggerated swallowing sound from the Looney Tunes.

We had a great time kayaking today - only one misadventure. Crystal took what turned out to be the wrong around an island and had to abandon ship. She collected her boat, paddle, water bottle, sunscreen and flip-flop floating downstream. We had a good laugh... or I did. Crystal insists she nearly died.

Towards the end of our kayak we cruised under the Pont du Gard, a Roman aqueduct that operated for hundreds of years. It is in remarkably good condition and there is no way I would have believed that it was built in 19 BC. Very cool.

After our kayak we cleaned up and hit Nimes, another site for Roman ruins. Today in Nimes we saw an ancient Forum that is better preserved than the Parthenon and explored the best preserved Roman coliseum in the world. In fact it is still used regularly for concerts and bull fights (most do not kill the bull). Fantastic. But also fantastically warm here today.

We intended to hit Arles as well but that will wait until tomorrow. Tonight we are back for a cooling swim in the river and off to Uzes to eat in the shadow of the Duke's castle. More about that tomorrow.

Crystal would like to request comments from her "peeps" as well if you are reading. And relative to comments - Jeremy we are indeed eating an occasional PB&J in the car on the way to our next stop.

We did indeed enjoy a swim in the river and then drove to Uzes for dinner. Dinner was on the square under lovely lights. Bob was particulrly proud of his seafood pizza complete with octopus. Very unusual. We strolled through town and went back to camp to get some much needed rest.