Day 47 Thursday 3rd July 2008

Today started cloudy, breezy and a promise of rain to come. We arrived at Glanum on foot at about 9.30am. We photographed the mausoleum and the triumphal arch just outside the site before the gate opened and we went in. 

Glanum started as a source of water at the foot of the Alpilles hills and eventually a temple complex was built. This was towards the head of a V-shaped valley and the town proper developed lower down in the wider part of the valley. It was in turn a Celtic town and a Greek town (Marseille was originally a Greek town before the Romans took over Gaul) before becoming a Roman colonia. It was successively destroyed and rebuilt over the centuries before and during the Roman era. 

Water was supplied by the sacred spring and was also supplied by a dam and aqueduct from west of Glanum. The overflow water ran in a twin channel duct under the main street – one for fresh water and one for wastewater. The channels can be seen at various points along the street. There was a temple to Hercules (in his healing guise) with a spring. This was also dedicated to the local god Glan. In the forum there was a deep well. This also had steps and would have been sacred particularly to the Greeks. The main street was plainly visible particularly from the high viewpoint recommended by the guide.

While we were there it rained and we sheltered by the deep well, but the rain was very localised as we discovered when we went shopping at Intermarche in St Remy. There we could hear it thundering on the roof but everywhere was dry on the other side of St. Remy where we were stopping.

We were invited to have a drink with our landlord & landlady at 6.30 so we went. The drink was a mixture of Bilberry juice and a local rose wine. Elaine put in a superb performance at French conversation for an hour and a half whilst I maundered a bit. She is now feeling the effects of the drink and the mental exercise. It also rained heavily whilst we were having a drink. Apparently, the Mistral is coming tomorrow.
 
Start Mileage  15182		Finish 15186		Miles travelled = 4
							Total miles = 3701

Day 48 Friday 4th July 2008

The Mistral has arrived. The sky is completely cloudless and very blue. The wind is gusty and not as warm as before. We drove out towards Beaucaire looking for some Roman milestones. Elaine found them labelled as Bornes Milliaires on the map. On the ground they were labelled as Via Domitian. There is one surviving group of 4 columns (actually 3 plus a stump) on a piece of the route behind the massive cemetery of Beaucaire and in the middle of some quarry workings. The notice boards gave some information about others and we followed the Via Domitian a little way further onto an unsurfaced track. We found what looked like a roadside shrine (a single column on a square base surrounded by paving blocks. It looked Roman but possibly could be something else. The rest we will have to research and look for another time. We returned to the cottage for a drink and some lunch.

This afternoon we went to Intermarche for the last time. We shall spend some time this evening packing suitcases, etc.

Start Mileage 15186		Finish 15224		Miles travelled = 38
							Total travelled = 3739