Winter in Fons
Winter in Fons outre Gardon is short. Temperatures in late November and December are 3 to 10 degrees, rising to 13 or more in late January or February. We have experienced 15 to 20 degrees in late February, certainly sufficient to take lunch on the covered terrace. Evenings are cool and sometimes cold. Then guests can enjoy the villa’s log fire, which complements the radiator heating. Most days lunch can be taken out on the covered terrace.
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The villa is situated in the Garrigue (the ridge between the Mediterranean coast and the Cevennes with small oaks and bushy). The area is in a major wine-making region with its Coteaux du Languedoc and Costières de Nîmes appellations famed across the world. There are countless wine-tasting ‘caves’ to be visited – including Fons outre Gardon’s own.
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In the winter It is ideal for walkers, cyclists, or tourists who want to drive their car, or use the bus or train that leave from the village for the Roman city of Nimes, or Ales to the north or to Saint Jean du Gard (where in 1878 Robert Louis Stevenson completed his 200km walk with a donkey, Modestine, immortalised in his pioneering travelogue, ‘Travels with a Donkey’).
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Walkers have thousands of kilometres of paths to explore, down in the Camargue or up in the Cevennes, or simply along Grand Randonne (GR) 63 which runs past the house.
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Cyclists can enjoy the four cycles provided at the house to explore the many off-road cycle tracks described in the House Diary by previous visitors
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It is possible to arrange to ski or toboggan from a base in Fons. Mont Aiguoal (90 minutes away) is the centre of Cevennes winter sports.
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Find out more about Winter Sports here.
NIMES
(30 minutes)
With its Roman amphitheatre (with many large annual events), maison carre, tour magna, and Jardin de la Fontaine. There is a bull-fighting festival at Easter as part of a large festival.
PONT DU GARD
(30 minutes)
The spectacular Roman aquaduct, with an excellent hands-on audio/visual museum under the reception area on the north bank).
UZES
(30 minutes)
The seat of the dukes of Uzes (yes, France still celebrates its dukes; the Fons co-operative wine cave markets its premier wine as ‘Duche de Uzes’). Uzes is full of history and boasts an internationally famous Saturday market.
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SOMMIERES
(20 minutes)
A delightful town, the final home of the novelist, Lawrence Durell, and famed for its large Saturday market and Roman bridge over the river Vidourle.
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