WHAT’S MORE …

This region, where eastern Languedoc meets western Provence, is so thick with

Roman elements that archeofatigue threatens. Frankly, on a trip to Nîmes I’d confine myself to two visits close to the town. Firstly, the Pont-duGard, the magisterial, three-level bridge taking Nîmes’s aqueduct across the

Gardon valley, as if completing nature’s design for the site. Never since have waterworks been so showy. It’s 30 minutes from Nîmes. Thus to Beaucaire, where the Mas-desTourelles vineyard specialises in making Roman wines inspired largely by the writings of classical agroexpert Columella. The visit is engrossing, the wines – with added seawater, fenugreek, herbs, honey, chalk and much else besides – are surprisingly delightful. My favourite, Turriculae, will appeal to fans of fino sherry (tourelles.com).

Indeed, the danger will be of rushing from one sensation to another, without assimilating the whole. So slow down, take the helicoidal stairway (like Leonardo da Vinci’s at Chambord, only in stainless steel) to the three upper levels, getting to grips first with Gaul.

The mix of real and virtual is as bewitching in the subsequent Roman section where, as you’re overwhelmed by the Pentheus mosaic, you may also visit, via computer recreation, the domus in which it took pride of place. Nearby, a real Pompeian red fresco –