Uzès stands on a low hill in the garrigue west of the Rhône, a town of warm golden stone that was the premier duché de France — the first duchy of the realm, whose duke still ranked ahead of all others at the king’s side. It kept its grandeur and lost its crowds, and is today one of the loveliest small towns in the South.
I. The Place aux Herbes
The heart of Uzès is the Place aux Herbes, a square wrapped entirely in stone arcades, with a fountain at the centre and plane trees overhead. On Saturday and Wednesday mornings it fills with one of the best markets in the Gard; the rest of the week the cafés spread under the arches and the town keeps its slow southern pace.
“The first duchy of France, grandeur and all — but the crowds went elsewhere.”
II. The Duché and the round tower
The Duché, the castle of the dukes of Uzès, still rises over the town, its keep the Tour Bermonde; the family has held it for a thousand years. Beside the cathedral stands the Tour Fenestrelle, a round Romanesque bell tower of six tiers of arched windows — the only one of its kind in France, and the emblem of the town.
III. The garrigue and the Pont du Gard
Uzès makes the perfect base for the western Gard — the Pont du Gard is twenty minutes south, the Roman aqueduct that once carried water this way to Nîmes. Around the town the garrigue of thyme and scrub oak runs to the Cèze and the Uzège vineyards; and the candy that half the world grew up on, Haribo, has its factory and museum here.
