The Jardins de la Fontaine in Nîmes, in the South of France, are well worth a visit. They were laid out in the 18th century around some spectacular 1st-century Roman buildings, then only recently excavated. This was an early example of public gardens being designed deliberately to draw visitors from far and wide.
The Roman buildings honoured the spring which served as the city's original water supply (before the building of the spectacular 50-km aqueduct which brought water here from near Uzés), and were integrated into the design of the gardens, which are typically 18th-century in their grand scale and design. Here is a group of MGS members, visiting the gardens in 2006, by a classical pool in what may originally have been a nymphaeon:
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Water is largely the theme of the gardens, which include wonderful fountains:
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In the 19th century the gardens were extended up the slope of a hill culminating in a massive brick-built Roman tower. Replanting and redesign continues in this hillside area, which is more romantic in style:
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here, for a statue integrated into this more romantic hillside area. The statue is of Antoine Bigot, a 19th-century poet who lived in the city.
The Roman tower, the Tour Magne, was originally part of the city walls. The tower, in its present state still as high as a ten-storey building, gives superb views. I used to get vertigo so chickened out of the climb, and instead enjoyed the shade of these twin olive trees at its base:
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