Languedoc-Roussillon, Saint-Jean-du-Gard, 8.6.2025: Silkworms and Church Organs

Stevenson Fountain, Saint-Jean-du-Gard, Languedoc-Roussillon

Maison Rouge, Saint-Jean-du-Gard, Languedoc-Roussillon

Today (the 8th) was a day of visiting two more places in the region, St.-Jean-du-Gard itself and then Anduze. Both were very interesting, though I have to say that after the long, long drive on the 6th, when I had excruciating pain in my legs from sitting so long in the cramped back seat, I find myself more than a little tired, so that I didn’t pay as much attention as I should have done to what we saw.

The day began with a petit déjeuner of croissants, baguettes, butter, and jams (cherry, chestnut purée) and honey, with coffee or tea and orange juice, eaten outside in the very fresh mountain air. Then on to St.-Jean-du-Gard, with A. accompanying us and taking us first to the old Reformed church, where the organist was practicing from the organ loft before the Pentecost service began, and a man was busying himself putting things in order on the table in front of the pulpit, checking to see that the list of hymns was correctly posted, etc.

Reformed church, Saint-Jean-du-Gard, Languedoc-Roussillon

Maison du Vicaire, Saint-Jean-du-Gard, Languedoc-Roussillon

Then we walked through the old village, with A. showing us the oldest house in town, la Maison du Vicaire, a stone house with the year 1587 carved in the stone above the main door. He also walked us to a bridge crossing the Gardon de St.-Jean where we could see a beautiful old stone bridge crossing the river downstream, and then through what was called the old “industrial” part of the village, where silkworms made silk, and silk was spun, and where there’s an interesting pump in an ornate pumping structure atop a hill overlooking the river (the water pumped by the pump came from the river), and a quaint old teahouse. 

Old pumphouse and teahouse, Saint-Jean-du-Gard, Languedoc-Roussillon

I found the old doors in Saint-Jean-du-Gard especially attractive and took photos of a number of them.

After touring Saint-Jean-du-Gard, we ate a salad of corn, tomatoes, and black olives A. and X. had prepared, then rested for an hour and a half before heading to Anduze. I was really tired by the time we began walking through Anduze in very hot sunshine, and flagged during that leg of our tour.

Pagoda fountain, Anduze, Languedoc-Roussillon 

Market, Anduze, Languedoc-Roussillon 

Steve has to watch the sun due to his previous melanoma, so when we found a shop selling straw hats, he and I both bought one and walked through the Sunday market area wearing our straw hats. Lots of tourist tat, some of it rather tawdry, set out on tables, and lots of small shops in the winding lanes of the old city catering to tourists.

After our walk around the old town and through the market area, where K. bought a tablecloth and I bought a jar of chestnut purée for W., we walked through a cool, green park with geese gathering by a small pond and found a restaurant where we could sit and enjoy glasses of a very good draft beer and of mineral water. Then back to A. and X.’s for an evening meal of cold cucumber soup flavored with cumin, slices of cold cuts and small sausages, cheese, baguettes, cherries, and yoghurt, served with rosé wine and a red Italian wine W. had brought for A. and X.

Park gate, Anduze, Languedoc-Roussillon