Rivers and Rome

We've reached the south of France, and its like a paradise oasis. We are staying in an 18th century villa, built in a Tuscan style, with a pool deck we lounge on constantly. The first day here was spent reading by the pool in the sunshine, walking down the hill to the nearby vineyard, and being serenaded by a local guitar player til late into the night. Rough life, I know.

Yesterday, we spent the afternoon kayaking under the Roman Aqueducts, seen above.  We kayaked down the river 6km. Surprisingly, the river looked a lot like going along the Deschutes River in Central Oregon, sans the aqueducts you would paddle under every few km. These aqueducts are massive. Over three stories high, its impossible to think how the Romans could have built these structures over 2,000 years ago by hand. The river was lined by people all the way down. We were startled every few bends by the people tanning naked on the shore, but hey, it's the French. The river was fairly calm, with a few little rapids. Every time we got stuck on some rocks, a little boy would scurry over from the beach and push us off, jabbering away in French. They were adorable. We pulled off a few times to jump off the cliffs, and some of the boys even jumped off the lower tier of the aqueduct! It was a beautiful day meandering down the river, and we were all exhausted by the time we got home in the evening.