Nîmes

Nîmes (/niːm/; French: [nim]; Provençal Occitan: Nimes) is a city in the Languedoc-Roussillon region of southern France. It is the capital of the Gard department.

Nîmes is located between the Mediterranean Sea and the Cévennes mountains. The estimated population of Nîmes is 146 709 (2012).

Nîmes has a rich history, dating back to the Roman Empire when the city was home to 50,000 – 60,000 people. Several famous monuments are in Nîmes, such as the Nîmes Arena and the Maison Carrée. Because of this, Nîmes is often referred to as the French Rome.

Climate

History

The city derives its name from that of a spring in the Roman village. The contemporary coat of arms of the city of Nîmes includes a crocodile chained to a palm tree with the inscription COL NEM, for Colonia Nemausus, meaning the "colony" or "settlement" of Nemausus, the local Celtic god of the Volcae Arecomici. 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.

Julien Doré

Julien Doré (born 7 July 1982) is a French singer-songwriter, actor, and winner of the fifth season of the television show Nouvelle Star, aired on the French Television M6 channel. He is also the great-great-great-nephew of Gustave Doré, a well-known illustrator of the 19th century.

Life

Doré was born in Alès (Gard), and grew up in Lunel. After taking his baccalauréat littéraire at the college Louis Feuillade, he attended the École des Beaux-Arts of Nîmes for five years. He is the founder of the group Dig up Elvis, with which he played in the bars of Nîmes. At that time, beer was the currency in which he was paid. In 2006, he created with Guillaume de Molina the project "The Jean d'Ormesson disco suicide", "protean group" which covered pop and disco hits. In June 2007, Doré was voted number one in French Elle Magazine's "15 Sexiest Men" poll. He used to date Louise Bourgoin, but separated since March 2009.

Nouvelle Star

In 2007, Doré was selected at the casting session in Marseille for the fifth season of the music competition Nouvelle Star, where he presented himself with a ukulele. At the beginning, he only participated in the casting to get free publicity for his band. He convinced the jury when he sang "A la faveur de l'automne" (originally by Tété). His most memorable performances and revelations were while singing "Moi... Lolita" (Alizée) and "...Baby One More Time" (Britney Spears), dance music songs, in acoustics. He won the finale against Tigane.

Pont du Gard

The Pont du Gard is an ancient Roman aqueduct that crosses the Gardon River in the south of France. Located near the town of Vers-Pont-du-Gard, the bridge is part of the Nîmes aqueduct, a 50-kilometer system built in the first century AD to carry water from a spring at Uzès to the Roman colony of Nemausus (Nîmes) Because of the uneven terrain between the two points, the mostly underground aqueduct followed a long, winding route that called for a bridge across the gorge of the Gardon River. The Pont du Gard is the highest of all elevated Roman aqueducts, and, along with the Aqueduct of Segovia, one of the best preserved. It was added to UNESCO's list of World Heritage Sites in 1985 because of its historical importance.

The bridge has three tiers of arches, standing 48.8 m (160 ft) high. The whole aqueduct descends in height by only 17 m (56 ft) over its entire length, while the bridge descends by a mere 2.5 centimetres (1 in) – a gradient of only 1 in 3,000 – which is indicative of the great precision that Roman engineers were able to achieve, using only simple technology. The aqueduct formerly carried an estimated 200,000 m³ (44,000,000 imp gal) of water a day to the fountains, baths and homes of the citizens of Nîmes. It continued to be used possibly until the 6th century, with some parts used for significantly longer, but lack of maintenance after the 4th century meant that it became increasingly clogged by mineral deposits and debris that eventually choked off the flow of water.