During our roll through the Languedoc portion of the trip, we first stopped in Uzès, a commune of 8500 that, after quite a bit of prior research, we were thinking would be a South of France equivalent to Old Town. It wasn’t, after all, but definitely had the desirable balance of small town-ishness and lots of restaurants and shops, which is a critical characteristic.
The town began as an administrative center for the Roman empire and, at one point in the 8th century, served as the northernmost outpost of Muslim Spain, before ending up with the Franks.
Uzès’ most recognized feature has to be its Romanesque, 12-century Tour Fennestrelle:
The137-foot-tall tower, more in the style of those in northern Italy, is unique in France. It’s also one of multiple towers in little Uzès, transforming the town into a miniature version of San Gimignano, the tower town of Tuscany.
Below, the Tour Fennestrelle it’s tucked behind the 17th-century Cathedral St-Theodorit, built on the site of previous churches destroyed first during the 11th-century Albigensian Crusade, then the 16th-century Wars of Religion (a conflict that would feature prominently when we reached the Luberon in Provence later in the trip).
The Protestants spared the Tour Fennestrelle during the Wars of Religion only because it served as a useful watch tower.
True that: it’s visible from all over the place, including ours:
Definitely sporting some bells, too:
The most photographed house in town:
We had been following Uzès tags in Instagram since before we had planned this trip in 2020, and pictures with this house are one of the most common subjects. When we arrived, we both said, hey, before we go, we should try to find that corner house. It turned out to be two blocks from where we stayed, and we walked by it almost immediately when we set out on the afternoon of our arrival.
The absolute heart of Uzès on our first night: Place aux Herbs, for centuries the center of public and commercial life in the commune:
And the ubiquitous house on the way home:
The château du Duché, home to the Dukes of Uzès since the 11th century. The other two town towers – the duché’s Bermonde Tower, built between 1144 and 1181, , and the town’s Royal Tower – loom over the rest of the château:
The dukes apparently can trace their lineage back to Charlemagne. In the courtyard of the château, the four granite columns are repurposed from an older Roman building.
Atop the Bermonde Tower, with a view of the other two towers – and much of the town.
Inside the château, an armored helmet dating from the 100 Years War.
And a pilgrim’s lamp from the Crusades.
And everywhere, the Dukes of Uzès’ coat of arms, assembled from consolidations across the centuries:
Even in the tiles on the chapel roof:
And in the chapel itself, a mural of the various component coats of arms:
Cool little market one evening along the walls of the chateau:
The Place aux Herbs’ iconic fountain and plane trees:
After sampling the region’s wine, a break with a local IPA for a change.
A morning hike outside of town. The area has really great signposted hiking trails – you can hike from Uzès to the Pont du Gard, if you’re so inclined (we would drive, instead).
A centuries-old cart path worn into the rock:
And it was apparently snail season:
This was an identical find to our last day of biking in Andalusia, Spain, but without the reward of a bowl of seasoned caracoles in town, like we had in Seville, unfortunately . . .
We, uh, never posted pics from our time in Seville, but this is how the Spanish there took advantage of the explosion of snails in the countryside:
Another morning hike; this time to try to find the Roman flow regulator for the source of the Pont du Gard’s water, which, it turns out was the Alzon River right in Uzès.
Despite reasonable effort spent searching, we never did find the Roman ruin, but one of us, of course, found figs, as she inevitably does on our trips:
And not just outside of town – no wall garden fig tree can elude the figeater, either:
Uzès’ towers:
Uzès is part of the French Department of Gard, which produces the lion’s share of the country’s truffles. We had lunch one day in a little alley a few blocks from Place aux Herbs, where they had freakin’ truffle bier:
And truffle-infused tapas – awesome find!
Followed by some downtime at a pool with the best view in town:
The morning of our departure was market day in Uzès, and Place aux Herbs becomes an amazing grocery store:
After browsing around, we headed out of town east, to Provence.
Next up: returning to Pont du Gard and Avignon after almost 20 years.
