by The director of a newly renovated boutique hotel in the old town of Nîmes tells me that he has recently gained and lost a star. The hotel’s restaurant, Rouge, run by Benin-born chef Georgiana Viou, recently won its first Michelin star. But the hotel itself, the Margaret Chouleur, has been downgraded from five stars to just four.
Here’s the interesting thing: the downgrade was done by the hotel. The high level rating was putting people off, so it was reclassified as four stars.
It is a very Nîmes move. With the Côte d’Azur to the east and arty, chic Arles its nearest neighbour, Nîmes flies just below the radar of many tourists and is firmly positioned in the good value category.
Nîmes was first prized by the tribes of Gaul for its natural springs, but it made its fortune during the time of Ancient Rome. Julius Caesar rewarded his Allied campaigners with land in the area, thus beginning a long tradition of welcoming retirees. The city, which was a convenient waypoint between Rome and its Hispanic provinces, was eagerly treated by campaigners and their successors.
Nîmes is feeling good about itself as its Roman temple was added to Unesco’s list of world heritage sites last year
Today, this southern French town of 150,000 inhabitants can easily be reached from further afield by Eurostar and TGV. Nîmes is the capital of the Gard department, a land of walled cities, and the center of Protestantism (first accepted, and then cruelly suppressed in the wars of religion and the counter-reformation). The prosperity of the Gardaí towns increased and decreased on both sides of the revolution of 1789. And it still does.
I came to explore some of them, based in Nîmes for a few days, then following the points of the compass: 30 minutes (more or less) north to Uzès, east to Beaucaire, south to Aigues-Mortes and west to Sommières (they can be reached freely by train or bus but to follow the route without going back to Nîmes each time, you will need your own wheels).
Nîmes is feeling good about itself as its Roman temple, the Maison Carrée was added to the list of Unesco world heritage sites last year. It’s surprising that it hadn’t made the list before. It and the Nîmes amphitheater are two of the finest Roman buildings outside Rome itself (the nearby Pont du Gard Roman aqueduct made the list in 1985). The shield-shaped medieval center already feels like a protected area, with independent restaurants, bakers and specialist shops selling everything from board games to brand, the dried cod paste is a local specialty. It is a delightful place to wander; Among my favorite food discoveries are Les Halles de Nîmes (the food market) and Gamel restaurant (in a small square, which puts a twist on the classics of the south of France).
Adding to the city’s attraction this year is an exciting new triennial art festival, La Contemporaine de Nîmes, taking place around the city in public spaces and museums (until June 23). From performance art to sculpture, work on the theme of “new youth” will be seen by many established and emerging artists from France and beyond.
Best of all, denim has returned to its birthplace after a century. The town’s museum tells the history of the hard-wearing material that the town’s weavers began supplying the bourgeoisie and rural workers in the 18th century. Serge de Nîmes found his way to Manchester and the US – and saw his name adapted to make “denim”. In 2020, a local entrepreneur founded Ateliers de Nîmes to make jeans at home again.
Leaving Nîmes, I first head north to Uzès, the closest the Gard reaches to Provençal honeypots like Saint-Paul de Vence, with tight medieval streets popular with famous homeowners. But good value is still to be found. Rooms at the beautiful and relaxing Hôtel Entraigues (no restaurant, but a swimming pool and a wonderful private roof terrace) start at €130 B&B.
When the locals start coming in, L’Uzès takes on that atmosphere of serious hedonism that marks a true French bistro.
Twice a week, there is a market in Place aux Herbes. After packing the clothes and food stalls, the cloisters around the square are a good place for a quiet drink. L’Uzès on the main drag (Boulevard Gambetta) feels a bit ostentatious, with its vaulted limestone ceiling, but when the locals start arriving, it takes on that atmosphere of serious hedonism that marks a true French bistro. It serves French classics with a few Asian twists: or Occitane-style fish and chips, if you prefer.
In Nîmes and now in Uzès, faces are pulled and grimaces are barely suppressed when I say I’m going near Beaucaire, famous for being won by the far right Front National. The right-wing mayor, Julien Sanchez, welcomed those leaving the United Kingdom by renaming a sidestreet rue de Brexit.
I discover, however, that the Beaucaire also has a fine old walled town, built by merchants who made their fortune on the annual Foire de la Madeleine. From the mid-1400s, goods from the rest of France and the world were brought by boat. Unlike Edinburgh at festival time, the locals let out their rooms, or even a small camping space in front of their houses.
In the mid-19th century the railways came in, and the site of the fair is now a car park, although the festival is marked by costume parades every July. There are no chic boutiques in Beaucaire’s charming medieval center and canal side, but the hilltop monastery of St. Roman and the hermit’s caves are worth a visit.
After a day in Beaucaire I spend the night in the countryside at Domaine des Clos, an 18th century winery turned former travel writer and her family (it’s 9km from town and also easy to reach by bike). Outside there are quiet groves of cypress and palm and a pool; inside is all art, colorful fabrics and home cooking.
My route on Aigues-Mortes takes me south into the Camargue through a quiet landscape of canals and fields where white horses graze. The fortress town overlooks the salt marsh, with distant hills from the Cévennes biosphere reserve to the north.
It takes about 25 minutes to walk briskly around the ramps from the Tour de Constance, which was once a prison for unrepentant Protestants and their families. I descended from the parapets to what seems like tourists of my near-Nîmes experience. I find my sadness in the main square with its circuit of bars and restaurants and waiters calling you. But the food is intact, the prices are keen, the experience very unCannes.
The last stop on my tour is Sommières. The village is dominated by a bridge built during the reign of Tiberius. The river Vidourle flows under the bridge and under the cobbled streets – until it doesn’t. The last serious flood occurred in 2002, when the waters reached second-story windows as a 300-metre-wide torrent cut through the town.
The railway no longer comes to Sommières and the old station is now a three-star hotel. However, it still feels like the timeless town in the south of France that attracted the novelist Lawrence Durrell, who spent his last years here. They are proud of Durrell: his fine house above the river is now rented out as holiday gîtes, and the cultural center is called Espace Lawrence Durrell.
Nîmes and the Garda are still lumped together with its larger neighbor to the east in many people’s imaginations. But this is not Provence, or even particularly Provençal. He is La France Profondesouthern style.
More information on and around Nimes from nimes-tourisme.com.
Eurostar return from London to Nimes costs from £180
