The Pont Du Gard is an exceptionally well preserved Roman aqueduct about 45km outside of Avignon. It is 275 meters long on the top-most tier. It is 49 meters above the River Gard, and was designed to carry 20,000 cubic meters of water a day. That's a lot of water for something built two millenia ago. It's beautifully constructed and preserved, a miracle of symetry and graceful design that seems de rigueur when dealing with the pre-Christian Romans. The Americans are often compared with the Romans in terms of culture, influence, moral decadence, etc, but I'll be damned if the artifacts of America survive like the Romans. I give the Golden Arches a half a century at the most. The Pont Du Gard will still be around a half a millenium from now.
But by the time you finish reading this sentence, you will have spent as much time with the Pont Du Gard as we did. Two millenia sitting on the River Gard, I blink, and almost miss it.
I suppose we have no one to blame but ourselves. Sleeping off hangovers on our last day in Avignon, following a frentic day in Nimes was probably necessary. Still, we took a 17:30 bus to the Pont, arrived at 18:20, and had to be back for the bus at 18:45. And the Pont was ten minutes walk from the bus station.
Five minutes at a 2000 year old aqueduct. I felt so dirty, like a fucking American tourist. Get in, snap the picture, get out as fast as possible. Like a cheap male hooker.