The haute ville lies on the south side of the river, with rue du Pont climbing up towards place des Poids and the fourteenth-century gateway to the town. More steep zigzags take you past the Gothic gate and overhanging portcullis of the belfry and into the heart of this sedately quiet, uncommercialized and rich quartier.On the north bank from the Pont Romain, a Roman bridge that has been patched up over the years, Grande-Rue leads up to the central streets of rue de la République and cours Henri-Fabre, after which it becomes avenue Général-de-Gaulle. The two excavated Roman residential districts lie to either side of this avenue: Puymin to the east and La Villasse to the west (Jan, Feb, Nov & Dec Wed–Sun 10am–noon & 2–6.30pm; March–May & Oct daily 10am–12.30pm & 2–6pm; June–Sept daily 9.30am–6.30pm; ticket for both plus Puymin museum and cathedral cloisters €7). The Puymin excavations contain the theatre, several mansions and houses, a colonnade known as the portique de Pompée and the museum for all the items discovered. The excavations of La Villasse reveal a street with pavements and gutters with the layout of a row of arcaded shops running parallel, more patrician houses (some with mosaics still intact), a basilica and the baths. The houses require a certain amount of imagination, but the street plan of La Villasse, the colonnade with its statues in every niche, and the theatre, which still seats 7000 people during the July festival, make it easy to visualize a comfortable, well-serviced Roman town. Most of the detail and decoration of the buildings are displayed in the museum (same hours as ruins) in the Puymin district. Tiny fragments of painted plaster have been jigsawed together with convincing reconstructions of how whole painted walls would have looked. There are mirrors of silvered bronze, lead water pipes, taps shaped as griffins' feet, dolphin door knobs, weights and measures, plus impressive busts and statues. Tickets can be bought at the Puymin entrance just by the tourist office or in the cloisters of the former Cathédrale Notre-Dame, west down chemin Couradou, which runs along the south side of La Villasse. The apse of the cathedral is a confusing overlay of sixth-, tenth- and thirteenth-century construction, using pieces quarried from the Roman ruins. The cloisters are fairly typical of early medieval workmanship – pretty enough but not wildly exciting. The only surprising feature is the large inscription visible on the north wall of the cathedral, a convoluted precept for the monks.
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