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Nimes
On the border between Provence and Languedoc, the name of NIMES is inescapably linked to two things - denim and Rome. The latter's influence is highly visible in some of the most extensive Roman remains in Europe, while the former ( de Nimes ), equally visible on the backsides of the populace, was first manufactured in the city's textile mills, and exported to the southern USA in the nineteenth century to clothe slaves. It's worth a visit, in part for the ruins and, nowadays, for the city's new-found energy and direction, enlisting the services of a galaxy of architects and designers - including Norman Foster, Jean Nouvel and Philippe Starck - in a bid to wrest southern supremacy from neighbouring Montpellier.
Most of what you'll want to see is contained within the boulevards de la Libération, Amiral-Courbet, Gambetta and Victor-Hugo, and there is much pleasure to be had from just wandering the narrow lanes that they enclose, discovering unexpected squares with their fountains and cafés. The focal point of the city, the first-century Roman arena, known as Les Arènes (open daily: July & Aug 9am-6.30pm; rest of year 9am-noon & 2-5pm; closed during special events), lies at the junction of boulevards de la Libération and Victor-Hugo. One of the best-preserved Roman arenas anywhere, its arcaded two-storey facade conceals massive interior vaulting, riddled with corridors and supporting raked tiers of seats with a capacity of more than 20,000 spectators, whose staple fare was the blood and guts of gladiatorial combat. When Rome's sway was broken by the barbarian invasions, the arena became a fortress and eventually a slum, home to an incredible 2000 people when it was cleared in the early 1800s. Today it has recovered something of its former role, with the passionate summer crowds still turning out for some real-life blood-letting - Nimes is the premier European bullfighting scene outside Spain.
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