Discover Rome's first province in the gentle enchantment of the south of France in spring - food, climate, very pretty town as a base.
£1675 (sgl supp £270) | Price without flights/train: £1465
Mon 3rd - Sun 9th May 2010 by rail, 7 days with Professor William Manning
Tour Manager: Anne Chowne | Availability: Singles Full| Doubles Available
Mon 11th - Sun 17th October 2010 by air, 7 days with Professor Tony King
Tour Manager: Jennie Robson | Availability: Singles Available | Doubles Available
Introduction
In antiquity the River Rhône provided an important trade route between the Mediterranean world and the barbarian north, and the fertile river valley brought wealth as well as early Classical influences.
The country south of the Massif Central, with the River Rhône at its core, is in every way a Mediterranean land, with sunny climate and fertile terra rossa. It was the point of contact between the developing Classical civilisations and the barbarians of northern Europe, and the trappings of Greek and then Roman life were adopted here with alacrity. Provence is still synonymous with delicious food, fine wine and the good things in life.
There is also plenty of evidence for the fearsome Iron Age warriors who lived here, and the surviving Roman monuments should be seen in their Gallic context. Sanctuaries dedicated to the cult of the severed head are indications of less peaceful times, and Roman triumphal arches celebrate the success of the formidable military machine of the Roman Army over these opponents.
Many of the monuments of Rome survive amazingly complete, having been absorbed into the later towns, often as defensive structures. Some of the amphitheatres and theatres are still in use today for bull-fights and music festivals.
In May we travel by train (Eurostar and TGV) to Avignon, and in October we take flights to Marseille, so that there is a choice of travel. The beautiful landscapes with avenues of cypress, rolling fields, vineyards and olive groves are a real feature of this holiday, and our hotel is based in St Remy, archetypal Provençal town.
Itinerary
Day One
Arrive by train in Avignon, or plane in Marseille, drive to hotel in St Rémy de Provence.
Day Two
We begin with a day in Nîmes discovering the substantial ancient monuments which still survive within the modern city. This was the tribal capital of the Volcae Arecomici, whose sacred spring of Nemausus was also revered by the Romans, and then landscaped as part of a public park in the 18th century. The nearby Tour Magne affords wonderful views over the city for those who climb the hill and tower itself.
Other Roman remains include the castellum divisiorum, which distributed the water from the aqueduct as it came into the city - a rare surviving example of this sophisticated plumbing. We also visit the Maison Carrée, temple to Augustus’ deified grandsons and heirs, the amphitheatre, and the Archaeological Museum.
Day Three
Theatre and triumphal arch at Orange, both well-preserved because of their transformation into later defensive structures. The stage wall at Orange is magnificent, and was described by Louis XIV as ‘the finest wall in my kingdom’. There is a small but very good museum here, with some rare marble wall plaques with inscriptions recording the division of land around the city. Further north lies the controversially restored city of Vaison-la-Romaine, excavated and imaginatively rebuilt by the Abbé Sautel during the first half of the 20th century - but the ruins are nonetheless very evocative. The bridge over the river also has Roman foundations.
Day Four
Arles, where many monuments of the Roman city are still remarkably complete. The amphitheatre survives so well because it became a fortified village during the post-Roman period, when the towers were added to its outer walls. It was cleared of extraneous structures during the 19th century, and is now used for bullfights, and its bulk still dominates the layout of the town (below). The theatre is nearby, and it is possible to go underground to the cryptoporticus which once supported the forum. The excellent archaeological museum stands beside the site of the Roman circus. St Trophime cathedral is one of the best examples of Romanesque architecture in the region. Outside the city are the aqueducts and remains of the mills at Barbegal, the largest surviving powered industrial unit in the classical Mediterranean world.
Day Five
A day considering the culture of the Gaulish people who were conquered by the Romans. The extensive remains of the oppidum at Entremont, where stone statuary identified as being dedicated to the cult of the severed head has been found. These came from a sanctuary which had been destroyed and rebuilt, and finally abandoned when the oppidum was taken by the Romans in 90BC. The broken statuary found in and around the sanctuary includes cross-legged seated warriors and carvings of ‘dead heads', perhaps copies of real heads which were displayed there - niches with skulls were also found. The Musée Granet in Aix-en-Provence contains the extraordinary finds. The cathedral here is built over the site of a late Roman basilica, and it contains a fine and very early baptistry.
Day Six
Glanum is a Gallo-Greek and Roman town set in a cleft in the rocks of Les Alpilles. Once again, the focus in pre-Classical times was a spring, dedicated to the god Glan, and reverence for this continued throughout the occupation of the town. It was abandoned during the later Roman period, when the centre of settlement moved to the present town of St Rémy, leaving romantically situated ruins. The two most prominent monuments are the triumphal arch which once marked the road into the town, and a mausoleum which was part of the cemetery built along this road.
Afternoon at the Pont du Gard, which is just one part of the Roman aqueduct which carried water to Nîmes. It supports the channel which took the water across the valley of the Gardon River. This aqueduct has one of the shallowest gradients of any known from the Roman period, and the ingenuity of the engineers in overcoming the logistical problems of the terrain is impressive.
Day Seven
Some free time in the beautiful historic city of Avignon before catching the train home (May).
Drive to Marseille for flight home (October).
Included
WHAT’S INCLUDED
- Trains Eurostar and TGV from London to Avignon (May - train times not confirmed yet).
- Scheduled Flights London to Marseilles (October)
- Transfers private coach provided to coincide with group trains/flights
- Local Travel Private a/c coach.
- Meals All meals included (dinners with wine and water) except lunch Days 2, 4 & 7, dinners Days 3 & 5
- Guide Lecturer Not to be confused with "guest lecturers"! The guide lecturer will be with you from breakfast to supper, and probably even a drink in the bar afterwards. There is the occasional site where they may not be allowed to guide because of local regulations (we normally manage to circumnavigate these) but otherwise the guides are just that. They will have been chosen because of specialist knowledge and their ability to communicate and interest you. After 22 years of making tours worldwide, we are highly appreciative of the attributes of a good guide, and intensely critical of people who do not possess them. If you would like to know more about Professor William Manning
or Professor Tony King, please click their names. - Tour Manager We never know how best to call the very special people whom we choose to accompany you on your tour. They are usually employed in this capacity only by us, and have been trained to do things in the Andante way - unobtrusive, friendly and quietly efficient.
- Fieldnotes written for the tour.
- Entry & tips Entry to all sites in programme; tips included.
Trains & Visa
Train: Eurostar and TGV from London to Avignon (train times to be confirmed)
Flights: details to be confirmed
Visa and Passport Requirements (for British passport holders only)*
Notes: Passport must be valid for the duration of your stay.
Hotels
6 nights in a comfortable and very stylish hotel (designer-decorated with some strong colours!) in St Rémy-de-Provence, archetypal Provençal town close to the ruins of Glanum.
Comments
What Did You Enjoy Most About This Tour?
Difficult to say - it was all so stunning. Maybe Glanum because it so big. And, of course, the picnics.
Lots of sites to see, lovely towns, always a full day and not anytime wasted. Hotel eccentric but very interesting and St Remy a good centre.
As ever, when I return from an Andante tour, I find that my mind has been well nourished and stretched. I find those leading the tours are good humoured and remarkably tolerant. Furthermore, those taking the tour are, in general, congenial and well travelled.
Now that I am home I think back in amazement of the number of fascinating places we visited and the huge amount of information given to us by both Tony and Elaine. My most vivid memory is of the impressive engineering skills of the Romans which allowed the structures to remain standing some 2000 years after being built. The hotel was well placed so that6 coach journeys were relatively short.
The Roman major sites were of course the high points. But the charm of the people we dealt with in restaurants and the hotel was an unexpected bonus.
Lovely to re-visit Provence in the company of experts. Well-planned in terms of visits, finishing with Nimes (programme) and Avignon (time to relax and stroll on departure day).
Reading List
This list is no more than a guide to some books that you may find useful to read in advance of the tour. Talks given on the tour will attempt to fill in the background to what we are seeing, so no prior knowledge or pre-tour cramming is expected or needed. In many cases, we expect that you will find some of these books even more interesting and useful to read once the tour is over. We will be providing you with a set of field notes to accompany your study holiday. These will be sent to you before departure with your air tickets and final travel details.
James Bromwich (1993) The Roman Remains of Southern France - a guideboook, Routledge. Extremely well written guide book to the sites, with excellent plans and explanations. (Guide Lecturers Choice)
Barry Cunliffe (1989) Greeks, Romans and Barbarians - spheres of interaction, BT Batsford Publishing, London. Gives a good background understanding of the interaction between the Iron Age tribes of western Europe and the civilisations of Greece and Rome.
J. Drinkwater (Croom Helm, 1983) Roman Gaul
A. Trevor Hodge (2002) Roman Aqueducts and Water Supply, Duckworth. Clear explanations of how water supplies worked, from source to use. Good descriptions of the Pont du Gard and Nimes aqueducts, and of the mills at Barbegal.
A. Trevor Hodge (1998) Ancient Greek France, Duckworth. An illustrated history of Provence and the French Riviera, which concentrates on the early settlement of the area by Greeks around 600 BC.
Anthony King (1990) Roman Gaul and Germany, British Museum Publications. General account of the Roman history of the region.
Jeremy Knight (Tempus 2001) Roman France, An Archaeological Field Guide
J. B. Ward Perkins (1992) Roman Imperial Architecture, Yale University Press, Pelican History of Art. Good general introduction to the monuments of the Empire.
M. Pobe and J. Roubier (1961) The Art of Roman Gaul. This is out of print at the moment but may be available through your local library.
A. L. F. Rivet (1988) Gallia Narbonensis, Batsford
T. Wiedemann (1995 Routledge) Emperors and Gladiators, comprehensive discussion of amphitheatres and games
Henry Cleere (2001 Oxford Archaeological Guides) Southern France this is out of print at the moment but worth tracking down.
Theodore Andre Cook (2001 Signal Books). Old Provence, first published in 1905 an evocative account of Provence at the start of the 20th century.
Guide Books:
Dana Facaros and Michael Pauls (2004) Cadogan Guide to Provence
