Angela and Roland's European Adventure: Thursday 10th November

We have been told by several local people that we should visit the town of Uzes, so we decided to go there today. Uzes is some 25km north of Nimes, but we decided to start by taking a 5km detour further north to the small village of St-Quentin-la-Poterie. The soil around the village is rich in clay and there is a history of pottery production in the area going back to Neolithic times. In the 19th century there were 60 kilns in this little village, many of them producing clay pipes for smokers, but the last of these kilns closed in 1974. However, just ten years later the first small, artisan-scale kilns opened up and put the village back on the ceramics map. It is now home to more than 20 independent pottery workshops producing hand-thrown ceramics, all in this little village. There is a bohemian feel about the place; rather like some of the Cornish villages where hippies settled. It also happens to be a very pretty little village.

As well as browsing the potteries, we stepped into a small gift/nick-nack shop that was also a tea room. You hear of shops being ‘a real Aladdin’s Cave’ but this one really lived up to this title, having low arched brick ceilings, small rooms and alcoves stuffed with interesting things for sale. It had a very small frontage but seemed much bigger inside. Angela could have browsed for hours and wanted to buy most of the things on sale (sometimes being limited by what we can carry in the caravan is a good thing), but she settled on a ceramic bowl and a gift for a friend. For tea or coffee you sit at one of the three small tables in the sale room. Everything is for sale, including the furniture you sit on, the cruets on the table and the candlesticks. It was very cosy and atmospheric and they served the best cake we’ve had so far – what a good start to our day.

SAINT QUENTIN LA POTERIE

Building with ceramic leaves over the brickwork One of narrow winding streets

Gift and Tea Shop Chairs and tables for diners are also items for sale

Aladdin’s cave

UZES

We got a town map from Uzes Tourist Information office and it included a self-guided walking tour of the town, so we decided to follow this. There is a lot to see in Uzes and we liked the town on sight. There are plenty of cafes and restaurants, interesting shops and art galleries . There is also a very large and impressive market square, which we loved, and many historic buildings. One random fact about Uzes is that it derived some of it’s early wealth from liquorice and this is the reason Haribo are located here (but we gave the Musee du Bonbon a miss).