A Day in Nîmes

I, perhaps like many other North Americans, assumed that denim and blue jeans were an American invention:  Levi Strauss outfitting cowboys and gold miners in the Wild West, yee-haw.  But, I was doggone wrong.  The material of the blue jean originated in the cotton twill textile factory of the André family from Nîmes, France and was known originally as “serge de Nîmes” and then shortened to “de Nîmes” (voilà, denim).  The French language also gave English the word “jeans”, as in the 16th century the port workers of Genoa, Italy created some work trousers made from denim that were called “bleu de Gênes”.  So, no doubt Levi put his own twist on the blue jean, but he was working with a centuries old European product.

We only learned of this little trivia after our visit.  The reason we popped over to Nîmes, found along the ancient Roman road connecting Italy to Spain, for the day was mainly to see the best preserved Roman Amphitheatre and Roman Temple in France.  This was the first town we have visited in the Languedoc-Roussilon region, and is my new favourite spot in France.  We splurged for a fancier lunch than our normal fare at “Le Resto” and even let the girls each have their very own 8 Euro dessert:  Lily chose the “fondant au chocolat” and Grace the “riz au lait”.  We then just meandered through town,  past the impressive Roman sites up to scenic Jardins de la Fontaine where the girls had pony and bike rides.  The girls are planning on taking their Papa and Grandma back there next month.

The symbol of Nîmes is the croc that can be seen tied up to a palm tree on its ancient coat of arms commemorating Rome's military wins in Egypt.  Army veterans who served during this campaign were given plots of land in Nîmes.
Lily's contemplating life in one of the city's squares.