Nimes

Wednesday afternoon we all visited Nimes, (pronounced neeeem) a city not too far away that was built by the Romans. The bus ride was packed because there is this huge group from Germany here for a week. We did not get to sit together. Karoline sat next to this lady and when Jeremie welcomed the group from America, this lady grabbed Karoline's hand and raised it up and waved it. Karoline was so mortified. Then she asked Karoline if she'd like a nice boy to speak in English with. Karoline was really just going to try to avoid getting car sick the whole time and did not want to engage in a conversation with some new person, but decided that anyone would be better than the insane lady. The lady was the German group's teacher and obviously crazy. She was going up and down the bus repairing people and switching seats. She asked me if I wanted to talk to a nice German girl in English. Whatever, lady. Sure. So I moved seats and got to talk to Clara who was very nice indeed. She apologized for her teacher's erratic behavior.

Once in Nimes, we saw an ancient water source, a Roman temple, and the arena, the 9th largest coliseum built in Roman times. The draw of Nimes is that this particular arena is the most intact of any, including the Coliseum in Rome. We climbed all the way to the top to sit where the women and slaves would've had to sit. I thought it was the best view.

Nimes is also known as the birthplace of denim jeans. The fabric was originally made as sails for a boat, and then was used for prisoner clothes. Then Levi Strauss visited Nimes and decided he could sell pants to Americans. The fabric was shipped to American via Genoa, which in French, the "Gen" is pronounced just like "jeans" in French is pronounced, and soon the pants became known as jeans. Meanwhile, the fabric was called "de Nimes" or "from Nimes" and this of course soon became "denim." There is your history lesson of the day. You're welcome.