Monday 23rd. May 2016
It was a cool and sunny morning when we got on the bus and headed off to Pont du Gard.
The Pont du Gard is a Roman monument built halfway through the 1st century AD. It is the principal construction in a 50 km long aqueduct that supplied the city of Nîmes, formerly known as Nemausus, with water. Built as a three-level aqueduct standing 50 m high, it allowed water to flow across the Gardon river.
In essence, the bridge is constructed out of soft yellow limestone blocks, taken from a nearby quarry that borders the river. The highest part of the structure is made out of breeze blocks joined together with mortar. It is topped by a device designed to bear the water channel, whose stone slabs are covered with calcium deposits.
In designing this three-storey bridge, which measures 360 m at its longest point along the top, the Roman architects and hydraulic engineers created a technical masterpiece that stands today as a work of art.
It is 250 metres long and 50 metres high.

At about 11:30 we headed back to Avignon for lunch and then a look at the Papal Palace.

Avignon became the home of the popes in 1309, who were fleeing the violent chaos of Rome. The Palais was built between 1335 and 1364 on a natural rocky outcrop at the northern edge of Avignon, overlooking the river Rhône. The site was formerly occupied by the old episcopal palace of the bishops of Avignon.
The Palais des Papes was built in two main phases with two distinct segments, known as the Palais Vieux (Old Palace) and Palais Neuf (New Palace). By the time of its completion, it occupied an area of 2.6 acres. The building was enormously expensive, consuming much of the papacy's income during its construction.
The Palais was subsequently taken over by the Napoleonic French state for use as a military barracks and prison. Although it was further damaged by the military occupation – the frescos were covered over and largely destroyed – ironically this ensured the building's physical survival. It was only vacated in 1906, when it became a national museum. It has been under virtually constant restoration ever since.

Tuesday 24th. May 2016
It was a fine cool sunny morning and we set off for the city of Nîmes. The journey took a little over an hour. Fernando took us on a short walking tour that ended up at the  Arena. The building encloses an elliptical central space 133 m long by 101 m wide. It is ringed by 34 rows of seats supported by a vaulted construction. It has a capacity of 16,300 spectators and since 1989 has a movable cover and a heating system. Unfortunately when we visited the interior it was covered in scaffolding and they were erecting a sound stage right in the middle.
We went past the "Square House" (Maison Carrée) a temple built by the Romans in about 4-7AD.
Veterans of the Roman legions who had served Julius Caesar in his Nile campaigns, at the end of fifteen years of soldiering, were given plots of land to cultivate on the plain of Nîmes. Throughout the city, small physical remains of Roman Nîmes testify to its former importance. In modern day Nîmes this manifest themselves as small brass plaques in the pavement bearing the city's emblem — a crocodile tied to a palm tree — a reminder that Nîmes was a favorite retirement home for Roman officers who conquered Egypt. (The crocodile is Egypt, and the palm tree symbolizes victory.)

The statue of the matador outside the Arena, Nîmes

The Matador with his "apprentice," Fernando, Nîmes

The "Square House,"  Nîmes

This area was the site of the old Roman baths, Nîmes

We then traveled on to the city of Carcassone. This is a beautiful, tiny hilltop walled town.
Hilltop Carcassonne, in southern France’s Languedoc region, is a medieval citadel famous for its 53 watchtowers and double-walled fortifications. The first walls of the upper town, Le Cité, were built in Gallo-Roman times; major additions were made in the 13th and 14th centuries. Château Comtal, a 12th-century fortress within Le Cité, offers archaeological exhibits and a tour of the inner ramparts.
We had a couple of Grand Marnier Crepes (€3each) for dinner and checked into our hotel, Les Trois Couronnes.
 

Basilica of St Nazaire, Carcassonne	Chateau Comtal, Carcassonne
The streets of Carcassonne	The double walled ramparts of Carcassonne
The River Aude, and the walled town of Carcassonne	The River Aude, and the walled town of Carcassonne

Wednesday 25th. May 2016
We left the hotel in the big black Volvo bus just before 9:00am and headed south back into Spain and out of France where there are fuel strikes and most of the service stations have run out of diesel. In Spain they have diesel at about €1.11 per litre opposed to France, who don't seem to have any, or will sell a bus 50 litres, where it is about €1.41 per litre.
We arrive in Barcelona at about 1:00pm. It is 21˚C here and sunny. We are spending our last two nights in the HCC Taber Hotel just a short distance from the Ramblas.
We then went on a bus tour of the city. We began by visiting the Olympic games site which overlooks the city and the port. We then visited the hospital Sant Pau and finally Antoni Gaudí's work at Park Güell. We then had dinner at a restaurant just around the corner from the hotel.

Spanish rural building on the way to Barcelona	Park Güell, Barcelona
This cyclist fell off in front of an oncoming van, Barcelona	Casa Mila, Barcelona

Park Güell, Barcelona

Park Güell, Barcelona

Casa Batlló, Barcelona

Seats in Park Güell, Barcelona

The Chameleon in Park Güell, Barcelona

After dinner I took some photos of Casa Batlló  which is another of Gaudi's design.

Thursday 26th. May 2016
We left the hotel at about 9:00am on the big black bus with a new local guide, Anna. She took us to Placa de Catalunya where we got off the bus and walked down  La Rambla, we had a quick visit to the Mercat (market) de Sant Josep de la Boqueria, often simply referred to as La Boqueria and then turned left into the old quarter of the city. We walked the narrow streets and visited the Cathedral of Santa Eulalia. As today is Corpus Christi, the local tradition is to put an egg on top of the water spout on the fountain. It rotates and is suspended on top of the flow (Refer Bernoulli's theorem).

Inside St. Joseph's Market, Barcelona

Front of Cathedral of Santa Eulalia, Barcelona

Street in the old part of Barcelona

Mosaic of a local tradition, Barcelona

Inside Cathedral of Santa Eulalia

We then returned to the bus and drove to the Sagrada Família. Gaudi became invovled in 1883, a year after construction began. It is hoped it will be completed by 2026. This is a basilica as apparently you are not allowed to have two Cathedrals of the same denomination in the same city, and Bacelona already had a cathedral. We took photos of the outside and then had a guided tour of the interior.

Sagrada Família, Barcelona	Sagrada Família, Barcelona	Sagrada Família, Barcelona
Sagrada Família, Barcelona	Sagrada Família, Barcelona	Sagrada Família, Barcelona

It is just as spectacular as it was the last time we saw it about three years ago.
We had lunch and then returned to La Rambla for a look around.
In the evening we had our final dinner in a local restaurant not far from the hotel.

Friday 27th. May 2016
We were picked up at the hotel lobby by taxi and taken to the airport at 11:00am for our 2:00pm Lufthansa flight to Frankfurt and then on to JFK Airport in the USA. Arrival time in the USA is about 8:00pm. We will pick up our hire car at the airport and head to our motel for the night, Ardsley Acres Hotel Court, about an hour's drive from the Airport. But that will depend on traffic delays due to roadworks and the fact that it is a public holiday long weekend in this part of the USA.