Pont du Gard, 2

(2 photos)
The roadway bridge was built only about 200 years ago, but it is well matched in style and construction with the 2,000 year old section. The first times (1980, 1983) we were here we were able to drive across the bridge with no problem (that's our RV in the photo). In 1988 the drive portion of the bridge was closed for maintenance.

On our fourth visit (1995) there were crowds of people, and police had blocked access to the road. In the afternoon and again in the evening, we climbed to the top of the bridge and enjoyed the glow of sunset on the old stone structure. Then we paid $3 to spend the night in the nearby parking lot with many other RVs. The next morning, with few people around, the police and road blocks were gone, and we again drove across the Pont du Gard. Traffic is permitted from East to West, the campground/parking lot is on the West end, so we had to drive several miles to get to the East end, so we could drive across the one-way bridge.

Why is that so exciting, since we’ve done it a couple of times in the past? Well, who else do you know who has done it even once?
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We have walked and driven across the one-way (from East to West) roadway on the first level, and we have enjoyed a thrilling promenade across the ravine by walking inside the four-foot-wide by six-foot-high water channel, above the third level of arches.